{"id":155109,"date":"2023-05-22T15:34:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T13:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=155109"},"modified":"2026-01-19T15:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:07:17","slug":"security-removes-vigil-for-murdered-palestinian-journalist-from-campus-rules-nowhere-to-be-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/05\/22\/security-removes-vigil-for-murdered-palestinian-journalist-from-campus-rules-nowhere-to-be-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Security removes vigil for murdered Palestinian journalist from campus, rules nowhere to be found"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vigil for the murdered Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh was held in front of the Food Plaza on Thursday last week. The gathering, that also called for a \u2018boycott of Israeli apartheid\u2019, was ended by security guards after only a few minutes, because according to the guards, political protests are not allowed on campus. Enquiries from EM reveal that the rules for demonstrations are not laid down anywhere.<\/p>\n

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Some attendees wished to remain anonymous.<\/span><\/p>

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Exactly a year after Aqleh was killed<\/a>, Palestine Solidarity Rotterdam organised a peaceful vigil on campus to honour her life and work, and also protest the Israeli \u2018apartheid\u2019 politics. There were fifteen to twenty people attending the gathering. They gathered on Erasmus Plaza, with flowers and pictures of Aqleh, and a big banner that read \u2018Boycott Israeli Apartheid, Free Palestine\u2019.<\/p>\n

Beyond the blue line <\/h2>

After five minutes, the students and staff were asked by three security guards to leave and move their vigil outside of campus, \u2018beyond the blue line\u2019, to which the students and staff members cooperated. The guards tore down their posters, as the group moved past the Sports Building, chanting \u2018Free Palestine\u2019. Despite the group\u2019s cooperation, the guards kept urging the group to walk faster as they approached the blue line. Eventually, the group set up their posters, pictures and flowers there, and continued their vigil.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guards told me my job is going to be on the line\u201d, Zouhair Hammana, a PhD and teacher at EUR who was involved in the vigil said. The guards told the group that they were not allowed to hold any political protests on university grounds, and that they weren\u2019t allowed to set anything up without the permission of the Executive Board. \u201cApparently any solidarity with the Palestinian cause gets this kind of treatment\u201d, said Hammana.<\/p>\n

No formal regulation<\/h2>

To which university policy regarding protests the guards were referring exactly, remains unknown. A university spokesperson referred EM to a booking system for rooms and events on MyEUR, the intranet of the university. According to that page all events that could impact (fire) safety, need audiovisual equipment or possibly \u2018cause inconvenience\u2019, require prior permission from the Room & Facilities bookings organisation.<\/p>\n

How the vigil would impact safety, require equipment or cause an inconvenience was not made clear by the guards. These requirements are also not made public on the website of Erasmus University, only on MyEUR. Nor are there any more detailed rules on how the university weighs whether an event is permitted or not, according to the spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Cutting ties<\/h2>

One of the organisers, an IBA-student and member of Palestine Solidarity Rotterdam who wishes to remain anonymous, expresses her confusion: \u201cI think this university has shown hypocrisy repeatedly. The Executive Board members have shown that specific causes matter to them, and even though they say that they\u2019re not political, they are political. They have already shown their stance on the Ukraine-Russia crisis\u201d, referring to the statement the university made on the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The organiser demands the university cuts ties with Israeli organisations like they did with Russia and gave an example of the exchange program EUR has with Tel Aviv University. \u201cWe demand EUR to cut ties with Israel and show support to occupied Palestine.\u201d Palestine Solidarity is currently promoting a petition against the university\u2019s connection with Israel.<\/p>\n\n\t

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