{"id":127254,"date":"2021-05-26T13:30:31","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T11:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=127254"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:39","slug":"banners-calling-for-a-boycott-of-israel-on-facade-of-erasmus-university-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/05\/26\/banners-calling-for-a-boycott-of-israel-on-facade-of-erasmus-university-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Banners calling for a boycott of Israel on fa\u00e7ade of Erasmus University College"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students hung three banners above the front door of the Erasmus University College on Nieuwmarkt in the centre of Rotterdam. The banners call for a boycott of Israel and for a \u2018stop to ethnic cleansing\u2019.<\/p>\n

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In May, students hung banners for a boycott of Israel on the facade of Erasmus University College.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

According to one of the demonstrators, who wishes to remain anonymous, EUC students made the banners and the protest is a collaboration involving students at the EUR, the Willem de Kooning Academy and the Piet Zwart Institute. One of the banners is a replica of the one that used to hang on the fa\u00e7ade of that institute.\u00a0 \u201cWhat one of the banners makes clear is that the Palestinian struggle unites us,\u201d says the demonstrator.<\/p>\n

A photo on Twitter shows that the door to the balcony from which the banners are hanging is open. Three banners are hanging from the balcony. They were then taken away after a short while.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday afternoon, the demonstrators\u00a0distributed a statement<\/a> in which they called for universities to boycott the Israeli \u2018apartheid regime\u2019. In the statement, they refer to an earlier boycott that Dutch universities called for against the South African apartheid regime. \u201cAs a result of decades of discriminatory government policies, the Israeli government violently segregates Palestinians, prevents them from living and travelling, imposes restrictions on their formal political rights, and by doing so engages in collective punishment, criminal arrests and the detention of children,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n

Open discussion<\/h2>

Dean Gabriele Jacobs of Erasmus University College was not yet aware of the protest when EM called her up for a comment. The banners disappeared from the building an hour after the call ended. Jacobs explains that university policy does not allow buildings to be used for political statements. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to hide behind rules. As the EUC, we believe that neutrality is important. And you can also ask what neutrality means in a violent situation like this, but the important thing is that we can have inclusive and open discussions. If we choose a side by leaving these banners hanging, we are blocking those open debates,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n

She had not been in touch with the students involved in the protest. \u201cI spoke to everyone outside, but none of them were involved.\u201d She is very keen to speak to the students. \u201cThis topic is of course already part of various subjects at EUC; this is a very important topic for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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