Academic year begins with several protests

The 2025/2026 academic year was kicked off with two demonstrations on the Woudestein campus on Monday. At noon, just over a hundred people made noise to draw attention to the situation in Gaza. An hour later the ‘alternative opening’ of the year began. A third announced protest was moved to Tuesday, but whether it will go ahead is still unclear.

After the monthly air-raid alarm a racket breaks out on the Erasmus Plaza. People clap, hit lids, containers, metal water bottles and cans with spoons, blow whistles and whistle with their fingers, and shout ‘free, free Palestine’. This followed the national call to stop work at 12.00 and make noise, under the slogan ‘wij werken hier niet aan mee’ (we are not cooperating in this matter). The demonstrators say the Netherlands is “legally obliged to prevent genocide against the Palestinians” and that sanctions should be imposed on Israel.

The Rotterdam protest started shortly after ten o’clock on campus. Posters were made and people could discuss other activities to protest against or inform about the events in Gaza. At 11.30 there were not yet thirty people on the square. A lecturer in International Law says: “I do not see this as something separate from my work. Speaking out is part of my job as an academic.”

From 11.45 it gets busier, and after 12.00 very busy. Many people wear red, as the call requested − although not everyone was aware of that. Just over a hundred staff and students made noise. For five minutes it reverberated across the campus, after which everyone left. The posters of murdered academics and flowers were left behind.

Red squares

During the ‘wij werken hier niet aan mee’ protest the red squares worn by some people stood out. It has become the symbol of WOinActie. On the opening day of the academic year the trade unions AOb, the FNV and the LSVb traditionally organised an alternative opening of the academic year. It is a regular day of action for the unions. As in 2024, this Monday protesters also spoke out against the announced cuts to higher education.

The alternative opening took place in The Hague, but it could be watched via a livestream from 13.00 to 14.00 in a small hall in Langeveld. Nine people watched as LSVb chair Maaike Krom gave her speech. Krom says she still cannot believe there are political parties that have again included a slow-progress penalty in their election programme. “Don’t lose hope”, is her message. She sees a lot of positive movement, for example many students who are willing to demonstrate. “Get involved. Don’t be afraid, stand together, take to the streets”, she urged.

At the entrance to the auditorium the red squares were later handed out ahead of the official opening of the Rotterdam academic year.

Tuesday phone protest

Muslim Rights Watch Nederland (MRWN) announced a phone campaign on Monday morning for Tuesday 2 September. Everyone was urged to call the university at 11.00 exactly. That call was later removed. It is unclear why. It was previously announced that the organisation needed everyone’s help on Monday at 11.00.

The reason for the MRWN protest is clear. A week earlier the advocacy organisation opened a reporting point for people who feel unsafe at Erasmus University following remarks by a professor from the Erasmus School of Law. In dozens of posts on platform X a professor from the Erasmus School of Law spoke out about Gaza and Palestinians. The account has been offline for months, but screenshots of the posts are circulating within the university. Erasmus Magazine has viewed the screenshots.

The screenshots show that the professor in question shared posts that deny the hunger in Gaza. There are also posts in which murdered journalists are described as terrorists, and posts stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza are not wrong but actually great. MRWN demands that the professor be dismissed and is therefore threatening demonstrations on campus.