2024 Radboud University Nijmegen pro-Palestinian campus occupation | |
---|---|
Part of 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the Netherlands and Israel–Hamas war protests | |
Date | May 13, 2024 – present (17 days) |
Location | |
Goals | Disinvestment from Israel |
Methods | |
Status | Ongoing |
On 13 May 2024, a group of students and staff members at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands organized a pro-Palestinian occupation protest. Protesters created an encampment, similar to other campus protests in the Netherlands, as well as in the United States and in other countries. The protesters demand that the university board divest from Israel over its alleged genocide of Palestinians and invasion of the Gaza Strip, and to support Palestinian students and universities. [1] [2] The protest is ongoing.
Pro-Palestinian student protests have been organized at Radboud University since as early as 18 October 2023, [3] and have continued sporadically since then. [4] In April 2024, demonstrators graffitied the wall of the university library with pro-Palestine slogans. [5]
The encampment was set up following the eviction of similar occupation protests at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Utrecht University. At UvA, riot police used bulldozers to demolish the barricade set by the protesters, causing clashes between protesters and the police. [6] In response, a national walkout took place at the University of Groningen, Eindhoven University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research, Maastricht University, and Radboud University Nijmegen. [7]
On May 12, a group of pro-Palestinian students and staff at Radboud University Nijmegen issued a statement condemning the action taken by the Executive Boards of the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University, [2] describing them as having "authorized extreme police violence against their staff and students who were engaged in non-violent protests against the complicity of Dutch universities in the ongoing genocide in Gaza". [8] The group also called for a walkout by staff and students the following day. [2]
In response, the university's executive board issued a statement in which they echoed calls for an end to the violence against civilians and permitting humanitarian aid into Gaza. They also stated that they generally "view international cooperative contacts between academic staff as an opportunity to maintain an open line of communication, even in times of conflict." [9]
On May 13, students and staff gathered in Erasmus Square on the university campus and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans, repeating their calls for the university board to divest and sever all ties with Israeli universities and companies. The students then established an encampment on part of the campus lawn. [10] The protest was attended by Maya Wind, an Israeli researcher at University of British Columbia and author of Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom. She spoke to staff and answered questions. [11]
A university representative requested that protesters, numbered at approximately 200 with around 20 tents, remove their encampment and leave by 6 pm. According to the university, the protest had been peaceful and "a good atmosphere", [12] [13] and no police report was filed. [2]
On May 14, various speeches took place at the encampment, with protesters vowing to continue their occupation until their demands were heard. Later that day, organizers called for a march on 15 May towards the offices of the university's executive board. [2]
In the morning of May 15, the encampment grew from 30 to approximately 45 tents. [2] Protesters vowed to continue daily marches at the campus to intensify the protest, until the university accepted their demands. [14] At the Berchmanianum building, the university welcomed a delegation of thirteen protesters to negotiate with the Executive Board of the university. [15] By the evening, the number of tents had again grown to 60. [2]
On May 16, the fifth day of the campus occupation, activists temporarily occupied a lecture hall before climbing on top of the Cultuurcafé roof to wave Palestine flags. Protesters also obstructed journalists from documenting the protests. After the protesters left, the building was closed. [2]
During the march of May 17, a road was temporarily blocked. [16]
The encampment was still standing by May 20, which marked the eighth day and second week of the encampment. A second encampment was set up next to the administration building of Radboud University to increasure the pressure on the executive board specifically. [17]
On May 21, protesters attempted to gain access to the university's academic library, which was unsuccessful. Marches were still being held, [18] and a road was again temporarily blocked. [16] On May 22, a sit-in was held by a few dozen students. Police showed up, but did not intervene. [16] The next day, the road was blocked again. [19]
On May 27, protesters occupied part of the Erasmus building. Two protesters had been arrested that day before the occupation, on the suspicion of vandalism. [20] The protesters declared not to leave as long as the university refused to break ties with Israeli organisations. In the night between May 27 and 28, police in riot gear moved in and cleared the building. [21]
On 12 May the Executive Board of the Radboud University Nijmegen issued a statement stating that they are in dialogue with the students about the "content and form of the protest." [9]
Dutch political parties GroenLinks, PvdA, Socialist Party and Party for the Animals announced their solidarity with the protests and encampment at Radboud University Nijmegen. They further called on the Municipality of Nijmegen and the University Board to allow this protest to take place. [22] [23]
On May 22, Radboud University published a list and statement regarding its collaborations with Israeli organisations. However, new details and information were not made public. [16] The university also filed complaints against activists for alleged destruction of property. [24] The university also made it known to regret that the boundaries were "increasingly being crossed" at the campus protest. [25]
On May 23, 344 Radboud University employees signed an open letter, expressing their support for the student protesters. [26] This number had grown to over 400 by May 27. [27]
Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, Dutch: Radboud Universiteit, formerly Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen) is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is considered one of the best traditional, general universities in the Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students.
Marius Job Cohen is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012.
The Diag is a large open space in the middle of the University of Michigan's Central Campus. Originally known as the Diagonal Green, the Diag derives its name from the many sidewalks running near or through it in diagonal directions. Many of the University's most frequented buildings are situated around the Diag, including West Hall, Randall Lab, the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, the Hatcher Graduate Library, and Angell, Mason, Haven, and Tisch Halls, among others.
The Dutch National Students Association is one of two national representations and spokesman of students in the Netherlands at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, VSNU, Association of Higher Professional Education, DUO, etc. The purpose of ISO is to improve the quality of higher education, protection of students' interests and representation of 688.000 students in higher education.
Esther-Mirjam Sent is a Dutch economist, academic researcher, university professor, and politician. She has been the chairwoman of the Labour Party since 2021. Before that, she was a member of the Senate from 7 June 2011 to 7 October 2021.
Paul Bakker is a professor in medieval and renaissance philosophy at Radboud University.
Elisabeth Marij "Lisa" Westerveld is a Dutch politician serving as a member of GroenLinks in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands since 2017. Between 2014 and 2017 she was a member of the municipality council of Nijmegen.
A series of occupation protests by pro-Palestinian students occurred at Columbia University in New York City in April 2024, in the context of the broader Israel–Hamas war related protests in the United States. The protests began on April 17, 2024, when pro-Palestinian students established an encampment of approximately 50 tents on the university campus, calling it the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, and demanded the university divest from Israel.
Pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses escalated in April 2024, spreading in the United States and other countries, as part of wider Israel–Hamas war protests. The escalation began after mass arrests at the Columbia University campus occupation, led by anti-Zionist groups, in which protesters demanded the university's disinvestment from Israel over its alleged genocide of Palestinians. In the U.S. over 2,950 protesters have been arrested, including faculty members and professors, on over 60 campuses. On May 7, protests spread across Europe with mass arrests in the Netherlands. By May 12, twenty encampments had been established in the United Kingdom, and across universities in Australia and Canada. Some protesters have referred to the movement as the "student intifada".
On April 25, 2024, a student protest began at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to protest the administration's investments in Israel. The occupation, self-titled as the 'Palestine Solidarity Encampment', was a part of pro-Palestine protests on university campuses campaigning for divestment from Israel. The encampment was attacked multiple times by counter protestors, leading to clashes. On May 2, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) raided and dismantled the encampment, arresting the protestors and ending the occupation.
On April 29, 2024, approximately 100 University of Oregon students established a camp on the Eugene campus to support Palestinians in Gaza and demanding action from administrators. As part of the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, demonstrators requested for the university to divest from “the state of Israel, Israeli companies, and any weapons or surveillance manufacturing.”
In May 2024, pro-Palestinian student protesters at the University of Virginia demonstrated on the campus. The protesters organized an occupation on university grounds in support of Palestinian nationalism in the context of the Israel–Hamas war.
On April 24, 2024, an occupation protest began at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California. The protest was a part of pro-Palestine protests on university campuses campaigning for divestment from Israel. USC cancelled their main commencement ceremony over safety concerns about protests. The encampment was cleared by the Los Angeles Police Department on the morning of May 5.
The McGill University pro-Palestinian encampment is an ongoing occupation protest which has been taking place on the downtown campus of McGill University, in Montreal, since 27 April 2024. It was the first notable Canadian demonstration in the 2024 movement of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, which call for universities to cut ties with Israel amid the country's assault on Gaza in the Israel–Hamas war. Like many of its predecessors, the protest at McGill takes the form of an encampment, a group of tents occupied day and night by protesters.
On May 6, 2024 University of Amsterdam (UvA) students established a pro-Palestinian protest occupation on the Roeterseiland campus to support Palestinians in Gaza and demand action from administrators. This became the first in a series of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses throughout the Netherlands. On May 7, 169 people were detained when the police used a bulldozer to break down the barricades after the protesters refused to leave.
On May 6, 2024, pro-Palestinian protests broke out at the University of Amsterdam which quickly spread to other universities in the Randstad and the rest of the Netherlands. Although protests had been taking place as early as October 2023, which marks the start of the Israel–Hamas war, the protests intensified in May in the light of the Rafah offensive on May 6 and recent similar protests in the United States and elsewhere.
On April 25th, students at University of Pennsylvania began an encampment to protest the ongoing Israel–Hamas war and to call for divestment from Israel. The occupation, named the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment," was part of a series of 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. On May 10th, the encampment was raided and protesters were arrested, ending the occupation.