Those conclusions are based on a reconstruction of what happened in and around the lecture hall that evening. This report of the facts – provided by an external party who, among others, spoke to people present at the time – has not been published. However, a statement by the Executive Board about academic freedom, which referred to ‘12 March’, was posted to the UMployee intranet last week.
Lessons were learned, it said: requests for potentially controversial events will now be subject to “stricter” consideration regarding suitable locations and where necessary, “professional moderation” will be required. UM employees who are present at such events will also be trained to intervene quickly “in the event of intimidation, hate speech or violence”. These measures also mean that the reluctance to allow external speaker on loaded topics, which started after 12 March, will once again be dropped.
Intervene
Osman’s lecture failed on all these factors, Habibović told Observant. “We should have been better at assessing the nature of the lecture, who that might attract, and whether this event could safely be held in that room [on the ground floor and with large windows, which the protesters pounded on].” She emphasised that ‘we’ here referred to the university, not the students who had invited Osman.
When asked whether someone should have intervened when the pro-Palestinian protesters made so much noise inside and outside that Osman was prevented from speaking, the rector hesitated. “I don’t know. We have learned that we didn’t have the people on the ground who could have done that. It was not clear beforehand who would do what, should something happen. I don’t hold that against the people who were there. If I had been there, I would also not have known.”
Risk
However, there were security guards, community officers, and, later, police officers present. “But then you’re already talking about security, public order,” said Koen Augustijn, the UM spokesperson present for the interview. He said that intervening for the Board refers first of all to “the issue of moderation, when an evening derails verbally and you lose sight of the academic debate”. But that doesn’t prevent protesters who want to disrupt meetings. “That is always a risk. You can try to mitigate that through a better choice of location and further arrangements about security.”