Fiery protest in REC-A against UvA stance on Israel-Hamas war
On Thursday afternoon, a group of protesters held a sit-in against the UvA's stance on the situation in Israel and Palestine. Fierce guest speakers lectured at the law faculty to a circle of listeners. A strike will follow today at 2.30pm. 'The fact that the UvA is not facilitating talks on this subject is incomprehensible.'
'The university is silent!' calls UvA PhD student Eleri Connick through a megaphone at 4pm through the then still silent hall of REC-A on the Roeter Island campus. 'We are all witnesses to genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. We shall therefore teach you.' The students around her are still watching a little uneasily. A few curious ones decide to pause studying for exams anyway and sit around the speakers. The growing group hears the guest speakers argue that the UvA is not neutral, as the UvA administration says it wants to be. As in the open letter signed by hundreds, the five guest speakers all argue that not mentioning, or recognising, the state of Palestine is precisely choosing the pro-Israel side.
Ihab Laachir (25), a member of the Central Student Council (CSR), agrees. Despite the fact that, as a visually impaired student, he sometimes finds it quite exciting to go to demonstrations, he thinks his voice should be heard for this issue. 'The fact that the UvA does not facilitate talks on this issue is incomprehensible. While every 15 minutes that we sit here a Palestinian child dies. And Palestinians are not even recognised by the UvA in its databases.' The CSR therefore decided earlier to submit a proposal to the UvA to add Palestinian nationality to its databases.
Boohs
Spectator Dylan Hwan (20) also thinks it is good that the organisers of the protest want to start a conversation. The econometrics student came off to the clapping and cheering. 'I could even hear it through my noise cancelling'. Hwan does take issue with the fact that he believes the speakers leave little room for a less extreme pro-Palestinian opinion. 'I wonder if everyone really feels safe to have the sought-after conversation.' Laachir disagrees. 'You would have gotten some small "boohs" at most with a different opinion'.
A global strike has been announced today against Israeli war crimes in Palestinian territory. A group, including Laachir, will also be on strike in the UvA from 2.30pm. They are urged to wear a keffiyeh (Arabic headgear), like several protesters did yesterday.
Business administration student Lars van Stenis (20) does not participate. 'I would only join a protest if it really affected me personally. However, when I got a message about this demonstration I went because I got FOMO. Of course it's nice that here at the site of discussion and science people are making a stand, or sit, against the terrible things that are happening there, but you are also very much forced to choose a side.' Indeed, he also hears a slogan like 'From the river to the sea, Palestinians will be free', which caused Jewish students to report to Folia in July that they did not feel safe.
Escalation ladder
Nonsense, believes Laachir, 'it is always pretended that freeing Palestinians from the Israeli government means aggression against Jews. Being against Israel's actions does not mean being anti-Semitic, right? Therefore, this is also 'only step one in the escalation ladder', argues Elena Connick, who, when the university sends the protesters away at 5.45pm, asks for a minute's silence. The university is silent again. Laachir is no longer there by then. 'When a speaker started talking about anarchism and that the bombs really should have fallen on our country, I did also drop out.'
