The exam period, the end of the academic year, heavy-handed police evacuations and campus closures have, in some places, weakened student activism against the war in Gaza, particularly in the United States and France. But elsewhere across Europe, protest hotspots are emerging or taking root, calling for an end to Israeli bombardments in Gaza and for their universities to divest from companies and institutions linked to Israel.
The movement, which began on May 6 at the Free University of Amsterdam, has spread to other establishments in Maastricht, Nijmegen, Eindhoven, Utrecht and Groningen. Demonstrations also began in Leiden on Monday, May 13. The protests took various forms, including marches, setting up tents and occupying buildings. Demonstrations also took place in Amsterdam, where police made dozens of arrests. A peaceful march attended by several thousand people on Sunday ended in chaos after a group of around 10 masked men dressed in black threw incendiary devices at the participants and attempted to assault them.
Police were also called in by the university authorities to carry out evacuations, as on Monday in a building in central Amsterdam, where the atmosphere was very tense. Around a thousand pro-Palestinian students and staff had unfurled flags in windows and on balconies, attacking the media. "Every time they lie, a child dies in Gaza," they chanted, also calling for ties to be severed with Israeli universities and businesses. The capital's university had been closed following incidents pitting pro-Palestinians against pro-Israelis, or students occupying buildings against the police. In Utrecht, students and professors occupied a rectorate building on Monday, demanding apologies from academic authorities for what they deemed the "disproportionate" use of force by the police, who were called in on May 8 to evict the occupants.
Protest action started on May 5 at Ghent University, where some 300 students have been occupying a building ever since. They have now been joined by around 60 professors and staff. Asked to break all ties with Israel, the rector, Rik Van de Walle, replied that this was "not a good idea" and stressed that his university had no relations with parties "involved in serious human rights violations." On May 7, a more impromptu movement got underway at the Free University of Brussels (ULB), where around 100 people called for "an end to all partnerships and links with Zionist universities and companies." Demanding "transparency" regarding the university's links with Israeli entities, the 150 or so demonstrators sparked controversy by calling for the cancellation of a debate with Elie Barnavi, historian and former Israeli ambassador to Paris. Describing himself as a "lifelong pro-Palestinian," this time the intellectual was reduced to the role of "representative of a fascist, supremacist, apartheid and racist (...) state." Questioned on Monday, May 13, Barnavi told RTBF that he would indeed take part in the debate, still scheduled for June 3. Various protest movements have also started at other Belgian institutions, such as in Liège, Antwerp, at the Flemish Free University of Brussels (VUB) and at the Catholic University of Leuven.
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