The first Palestine demonstration of this academic year took place on Friday. How did the day go?
Last Friday, another Palestine demonstration took place on the Roeterseiland campus. Around a thousand demonstrators attended this. How did the day develop?
That last Friday‘s Palestine demonstration had already been announced weeks ago on the Instagram account of Amsterdam Student Encampment - one of the organising action groups - was noticeable at the UvA. The police and the university were prepared. Around half past one - half an hour before the start - a drone was whizzing above the Roeterseiland campus; from the police force, enquiries revealed. In addition, the entrances and exits of REC-ABC and -DE on the canal side were closed. A precautionary measure by the university, to prevent students and staff from suddenly finding themselves in a demonstration.
That things can get tough at these demonstrations was already evident last year. Actions on the Binnengasthuisterrein, Science Park and the Roeterseiland campus repeatedly ended in vandalism and housebreaking, after which the police had to make dozens of arrests. This too, incidentally, was not always done gently. Despite these precedents, the UvA had no intention of banning this demonstration in advance. ‘’Demonstrating is of course allowed at the UvA, but we draw a line at escalation,‘’ said a spokesperson.
This message was reiterated at the start of the protest by the UvA‘s new college president, Edith Hooge, who was present at the venue. It then also became known that demonstrations would be allowed again this year on the Roetersweiland, the grassy area on campus that was hermetically sealed off for a time last academic year after a Palestine protest got out of hand.
March to Maagdenhuis
It would not matter much this Friday, however, as it soon became clear that the protesters did not intend to stay on campus for long. The protesters, from a few dozen in size expanded to a few hundred and later even a thousand, planned to march in a march to the Maagdenhuis, where the Executive Board had been seated for many years and which still represents an important, symbolic value.
March to the Maagdenhuis
So a march with a thousand activists, across the city, accompanied by the police peacekeeping unit. But before it came to that, those same police were briefly ordered to leave the UvA grounds. The now familiar ‘’Cops off campus‘’ and ‘’Tout le monde, je deteste la police‘’ sounded frequently across the campus again, as in previous editions.
Although this did not lead to really dangerous situations; the police decided not to intervene. However, journalists from Dutch broadcaster Powned were prevented from working: their cameras were blocked and the reporter was kept at a distance by the protesters. Not the intention, board chairman Hooge responded to Powned's camera when asked.
Around four o‘clock, the protesters started marching towards the Maagdenhuis. With drums, banners and a megaphone. Amnesty staff were also present, checking whether the police and municipality were following the rules associated with demonstrations. When it was clear that the protest on the Roeterseiland campus had definitely ended, the UvA saw an opportunity to take stock on X. It concluded that the demonstration had gone well ‘’thanks to the organisers, the UvA security guards and everyone else involved‘’. There was probably some relief in that tweet, given the events of last academic year.
Divided
However, things were not completely over by then. Meanwhile, a dozen policemen on the Spui were put on alert, in case the procession of protesters reached their destination. After about an hour of chanting slogans through downtown Amsterdam, that happened. Soon after arrival, however, division struck among the protesters. Although the slogans - sometimes clearly anti-Israeli - were still chanted passionately, the group had by now visibly shrunk.
Some wanted to stay at the Maagenhuis and quietly listen to speeches on the Spui, others wanted to leave and regroup at a later time. The latter sentiment slowly appeared to gain the upper hand. Around 5.30 pm, the demonstration came to an end. Major unrest thus remained, for the time being, absent on Friday.
