That the group would demonstrate at the faculties on 21 March was known, says Letschert. That they would also go inside and chant slogans through a megaphone – including the controversial From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free – “however, was new”. Was it permitted at all, council members wondered at both the recent meeting of the University Council and that of the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE). Various Jewish members of staff and students “feel intimidated and threatened” by FPM’s actions, said an FSE student: what can the university do “to protect learning spaces”? In the University Council, it was asked whether there were grounds for keeping demonstrators out of university buildings (public buildings).
Demonstrating is allowed
The latter is not so simple, says Letschert to Observant: demonstrating inside the buildings is allowed, as long as the rules are abided by, so no disruption of teaching and research (for example in labs). This did occur on 21 March at, among others, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), where Letschert herself entered into discussion with the demonstrators and asked them to stop – which is what they did, according to her.
Should security guards not have intervened? She hesitates, seems to feel it is too strong a measure. “You don’t need to tolerate students not adhering to the rules.” But, she emphasises, “I was able to achieve the same in a reasonable manner by going to them”. For the time being, she wants “to continue to talk,” but she admits that this is not always a perfect solution. “I am in contact with some of the demonstrators, but some others are not connected to FPM or may not even study at the university.”
“A line was crossed”
Dean Jan Smits from the Faculty of Law endorsed in a blog on intranet UMployee “the great importance that we attach to freedom of speech and dialogue”. But on the 21st, the discussion with the demonstrators was not possible at all, he feels, and employees and students couldn’t help but be confronted with the protest and teaching was disrupted. For him, “a line was crossed” when the demonstrators chanted the slogan From the river to the sea. This is “regarded by many as offensive and as a call for violence” and “it lends itself to antisemitic interpretation”.
In the meantime, FPM appeals to students on Instagram to protest against the “genocide in Gaza”, which they believe “is being made to seem normal and invisible”. They also defend the use of the slogan: From the river to the sea is not antisemitic. The group says that they understand the concerns about the disruption of education, “but that was the very objective of our protest, to make a statement and to break through the university’s neutrality in light of this barbaric genocide”.