"Staying quiet is not an option," thinks one FASoS-student. She stands by the protesters, as do two other students having a cup of coffee at Banditos. "They are open to conversation," she says. Also with people with different opinions? "I think so." The protesters' demand - UM must sever all ties with Israeli institutions - is, in her view, justified. "I heard from them that Tel Aviv University financially supports military operations."
Law
At the law school, the news has not yet reached everyone, even though the camp is at a stone’s throw. One master's student knows nothing about it, but thinks there should be no protest within the university. Another student disagrees: "If you stay quiet, you also pick a side. Suppose I slap you (the reporter, ed.) and nobody does anything, then the bystanders thereby choose my side. Something similar is what the university is doing now. They remain silent and don’t sever ties with Israeli institutions. If they would, UM would send a signal: 'This is not OK.' But whether that helps Gaza directly? No, I don't think so. The Palestinians have been oppressed for so long."
She understands why the protesters walked into the FASoS building on Tuesday shouting slogans, violating the agreement made (to not to disrupt teaching and research). "They are apparently desperate, just like in Amsterdam. But students are smart, I’m sure they know that violence doesn't solve anything."
A second-year law student who supports the Palestinian cause, on the other hand, can find little sympathy for this. "Two or three weeks ago, protesters entered the law school. They shouted, 'Shame on you'. I felt condemned for not participating in their actions."
School of Business and Economics
"Oh yes, those tent camps in Amsterdam?" responds an econometrics student at the School of Business and Economics when asked if he knows anything about 'the camp'. No, correct two fellow students him, "the one here in Maastricht." Yes, they have seen an email from the university about it, but have not looked into it. What they think about it? "As long as the protests are peaceful, it's fine," they say.
"It is important to me though that the university remains a safe space, no aggression," adds a master's student in International Business. But whether the protests really solve anything, many doubt. "Stand in front of a government building with your tent, the university should remain neutral", thinks one. Another thinks this is nonsense: "Silence is consent, also for a university. Just like with the Eurovision Song Contest. By allowing Israel to participate, you are choosing a side."
Randwyck
On the other side of the Maas, in Randwyck, it doesn’t seem to be a topic of conversation. There too, students have seen an email, but it was too brief, according to a third-year Biomedical Sciences student. "I feel like they are not telling us everything," he said. Again, people say: peaceful protests are allowed. Although another third-year is skeptical: "Who cares if they are lying in their own beds or in a tent – freezing to death? They only have themselves with it." And the protesters' demand, it won't achieve anything anyway, he grumbles. "You have to do something at the national level."
He says the disruption of education last Tuesday is "anti-social. This will only create more friction." A student from the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) thinks the action was the right thing to do because it creates dialogue. "The university does not have to take sides, as long as they leave room for this protest. Some of my friends were there." Another FSE-student prefers not to have anything to do with it. "I'm just here to study."
Lotte van de Loo and Simon Wirtz