Demonstrations must be registered with the municipality at least 48 hours in advance. But in this case, no email was received until the afternoon of March 12, states Hillenaar. The lecture by the pro-Israel Rawan Osman took place that same evening.
It ended prematurely because of the noise the protesters made. According to the mayor, that decision was taken by Maastricht University after consulting with a municipal official who was present. The latter had asked the demonstrators to stop banging on the building’s windows, but they did not comply, Hillenaar writes. There were concerns that the windows might be broken.
"Unfortunate in hindsight"
Furthermore, the mayor describes the choice of Tapijn Z – a ground-floor space that is easily accessible and has large windows through which anyone outside can see what is happening – as “unfortunate in hindsight.” The university itself is currently assessing whether Tapijn Z was the right location.
Additionally, the university has hired an external researcher to investigate what exactly happened on March 12, said spokesperson Koen Augustijn. Based on that research, they will assess whether the demonstrators violated the UM's code of conduct and whether there is grounds for filing a police report. According to Augustijn, the university is also reconsidering its relationship with the student organization Free Palestine Maastricht, which supported the protest.