{"id":167773,"date":"2024-05-15T12:01:35","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T10:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=167773"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:20","slug":"pro-palestinian-protest-the-demands-the-violence-and-the-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/05\/15\/pro-palestinian-protest-the-demands-the-violence-and-the-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Palestinian protest: the demands, the violence and the damage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week saw fierce student protests in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Pro-Palestinian protesters came to blows with the riot police. What are the demands, who will pay for the damage and are the protests over now?<\/p>\n

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Who are the protesters?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It started on Monday, when students and staff put up tents on University of Amsterdam (UvA) premises. Sympathisers and other organisations joined them. As did alumni, who previously took part<\/a> in the Maagdenhuis occupation in 2015. In addition, critics such as Minister of Education Robbert Dijkgraaf said, \u201cprofessional rioters\u201d joined the protests.<\/p>\n

What do they want?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The protesters want to know what ties their university has with Israelian institutions and companies. They demand the UvA discontinue its collaboration with education institutions that support \u201cgenocide, apartheid and colonial violence\u201d, as well as terminate its agreements with companies profiting from said violence. In Utrecht, similar demands<\/a> were already made two months ago.<\/p>\n

Will the universities be meeting these demands?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The demands are \u201cvirtually non-discussible\u201d, says<\/a> UvA Rector Magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek to NOS. He\u2019s fine with being open about partnerships, \u201cbut we don\u2019t want to cut ties\u201d. Utrecht University also does not wish to meet the demands<\/a>, even after last week\u2019s occupation.<\/p>\n

What the University of Amsterdam will<\/em> do, is organise discussions on the collaboration with companies and institutions in light of the war in Gaza, as was previously done on the topic of the fossil industry.<\/p>\n

What kind of violence did the riot police use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It hit people with truncheons, used a front loader to remove barricades and was also reported to have used police dogs. Some were impacted badly by this brute force, as the protesters call it.<\/p>\n

What kind of violence did the protesters (and counter-protesters) use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For one thing, fireworks and rocks were thrown at the police. One officer is said to have got ammonia in his eyes. On Monday, some men tried to provoke the protesters by throwing flares and fireworks at them. They were chased off with truncheon blows.<\/p>\n\n\t

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