Prime Minister Rutte reacts negatively to violence during actions at the UvA

NOS News•today, 10:42•Amended today, 1:35 PM

Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte responded for the first time on X to the demonstrations at the University of Amsterdam. “The events at and around the UvA in the last few days clearly cross boundaries. Demonstrating is always allowed. But using violence against the police and causing destruction is never allowed. Stop that!”

Rutte says next Monday he will discuss anti-Semitism in the Netherlands with “numerous civil society organizations”. “More and more often and with increasingly harsh words, the violence in Gaza is being blamed on Jewish Dutch people. Unjustly!”, Rutte writes. He calls it a form of anti-Semitism that must be combated. “Don’t be silent, don’t look away.”

Other party leaders, such as Jetten (D66) and Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA), also call on demonstrators on X to stop destruction and violence. At both the UvA and Utrecht University (UU), the police intervened in protests over the past 24 hours by students and employees, among others.

UvA employees speak out in an open letter against the “actions of the Executive Board” after police actions at various Dutch universities last night and last night.

According to the writers of the letter, the university board has shown bad faith by deciding to end the occupation by force during negotiations with students and employees. “We are shocked by the administration’s absolute disregard, disrespect and general indifference towards its students and staff.”

The letter also speaks of “unprecedented violence” against the demonstrators. According to the employees, this not only affected the participating students and employees, but also bystanders.

The employees are calling for a “walk-out” on Monday, May 13 on the Roeterseiland campus. Afterwards, staff will meet to discuss demands on “restoring the right to nonviolent demonstration and severing ties with Israeli institutions that violate human rights.”

It is not clear how many employees were present at the demonstrations. Nor is it clear how many employees support the call.

The call is published and shared by several contributors on social media:

Yesterday, the Binnengasthuis site was cleared by the police after the UvA filed a report, partly because vandalism had been caused to the buildings. In addition, the safety of local residents would be at stake. The building had been occupied by demonstrators since Tuesday.

Police used shovels to dismantle the barricades made with office furniture, ladders and stones, among other things. Protesters attacked the police by spraying fire extinguishers and throwing objects. The riot police dealt blows to demonstrators.

This video shows the evacuation at the UvA:

Police started to end student protests at UvA

After the evictions, some of the demonstrators left the UvA building for the Rokin. Ultimately, the demonstrators had to leave there too and hundreds of them were chased to Rembrandtplein. The group thinned out around 11 p.m.

The police and riot police were already ready to do something about the barricades, says police commissioner Frank Paauw in the radio program Sven on 1. Only when the university filed a report could the police proceed with the evacuation of the occupied building. That finally happened at 2:30 am, with Paauw indicating that he was also concerned about the “peace-loving students”.

The police previously reported that 32 people had been arrested for public violence, destruction, assault and incitement. According to Paauw, that number has risen to 36 and they were all still stuck this morning.

Five officers were injured as a result of the confrontation between demonstrators and the police, Paauw said. These were minor injuries, but one of the officers got ammonia in his eye. “Absurd,” says Paauw. “Throwing stones is not normal either, but this looks like street terror. How do you think about taking ammonia and throwing it at the police?”

The barricades were constructed very professionally. “Fortifications that do not fit within the framework of action of a 20-year-old law student,” says the police chief. Although he says he has “hard information” that several groups had joined the UvA demonstrators, he cannot confirm that the pro-Palestinian network Samidoun is involved, as De Telegraaf reports, among others. “There was a Samidoun flag.”

Amnesty International Netherlands calls for an evaluation of the actions of the local government and police surrounding the UvA demonstrations. Observers from the organization were present at the demonstrations. According to Amnesty, the police failed to take advantage of opportunities for de-escalation at “crucial moments.”

At the same time, Amnesty calls it unacceptable that some of the demonstrators used violence against the police. However, these incidents should not be a reason to take a repressive approach to future demonstrations, according to the organization, which indicates that previous demonstrations were peaceful.

A university building on the Drift was also occupied in Utrecht. Initially, chairman Anton Pijpers called on the demonstrators to leave the building before 10 p.m., closing time. At the end of the evening, Pijpers issued an ultimatum: all demonstrators had to leave by 12:05 am. The first demonstrators were taken away by buses around 1 a.m.

The police and demonstrators then confronted each other on the bridge between Voorstraat and Wittevrouwenstraat. The demonstrators began to leave around 2 a.m. Half an hour later, a group of about forty demonstrators were taken away by city buses.

“They were dropped off elsewhere and not arrested,” a police spokesperson said. According to the police, no damage was caused to the university building in Utrecht.

The university buildings in Utrecht will remain closed until 8 a.m. on Monday morning.