Who are the demonstrators at the UvA and what do they want? ‘Send a strong signal’

NOS News•today, 6:13 PM

After two days of demonstrations at the University of Amsterdam, more and more organizations and sympathizers from outside the university are joining. The organization behind the protest is happy with this support, but emphasizes that it was “primarily and completely” organized by students and teachers.

After the evacuation of the tent camp on Monday night on the Roeterseiland campus of the UvA, demonstrators took to the streets again yesterday afternoon. The demonstrators were mainly students and teachers, but after a new tent camp with barricades was built at the Oudemanhuispoort, one of the main locations of the university, people from outside the UvA also joined. The mobile unit is now also evacuating that location.

Sympathizers may have come to the protest after calls shared via social media such as Instagram. The call via the Amsterdam Encampment account has been shared by other organizations, such as the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands.

News hour reported last night that members of the action group Extinction Rebellion were also participating in the protest and journalists from various media saw how “seasoned activists” joined and reinforced the previously rickety barricades.

From behind the barricades, an activist explains what moves him:

University of Amsterdam barricaded this morning

The organization behind the protests confirms the support from outside the university. “This protest is primarily and completely organized by students and teachers, and it also focuses on the university,” emphasizes student Carlos van Eck.

He is a member of the negotiating team of demonstrating students and teachers. “Given the threatening situation, we allow everyone to express support, but it is about the UvA. We feel supported by that solidarity.”

He has no idea how many people from outside the university are currently at the Oudemanhuispoort. Chairman Elisa Weehuizen of the student union LSVb does not have that either, but does know that there are also students from other cities. “There are people from other student cities who bring food and drinks, for example.”

The LSVb supports the protest because it concerns democracy at the university. “These are students who want to have a say in this subject, but they do not feel heard,” says Weehuizen. “We believe that universities should democratize more and this shows that this is really necessary.”

A member of the negotiating team of students and teachers about the protest action:

‘We want the university to meet our demands’

Secretary Henk van den Bosch of the Amsterdam student union ASVA, who is watching what is happening at the Oudemanhuispoort, agrees. “This topic has been around for a long time. Students want a say and we support that.”

He also sees that people from outside the university are mixing with the demonstrators, but he does not think that the organization is losing control as a result. “There are now people inside the barricade and also people outside who support the action. Of course we see that many others want to help. The subject is alive in society as a whole, not just within the universities. But my impression is that the organizers are in control to have.”

Negotiator Van Eck emphasizes that the demonstrators behind the barricades would also like to see an end to the situation quickly. “Of course we don’t want this either. But we have been trying to start this conversation for six months and the Executive Board has always responded negatively. There is a threat of genocide against more than a million Palestinians in Rafah, which is why it is so important that there is now a strong signal is coming.”

The protesting students and teachers at the UvA have submitted three demands to the university board. These amount to full transparency about cooperation with Israeli organizations and universities, stopping investments in that cooperation and severing ties with those organizations.

Meanwhile, the American-Dutch historian James Kennedy watches from a distance at a demonstration in Utrecht. He is surprised that the student protests in the US have not already spread to the Netherlands.

“We have of course seen demonstrations and protests against the war in Gaza since October, but not yet such a protest in Amsterdam, with barricades, with the intention of disrupting the functioning of the university. The university is thus forced to act: or by accommodating the students’ demands, or by driving them out.”

The latter has happened frequently in the US in recent weeks, but there are differences, Kennedy thinks. “It often took days before action was taken, but the eviction was even rougher than we have seen here so far.”