At 12.00 on Monday afternoon, activists at the encampment walk up to the front entrance of the main building carrying a big bag. The group quickly scatters the contents around: dolls, toys and clothes, with bright red colouring applied to them. “Our action today shows who the victims are of the actions of the Israeli state. Children being murdered en masse. These are their clothes”, yells one of the activists. The reason they are protesting at this particular moment is to support a delegation of their encampment negotiating with the VU executive board.
Lockdown
The main entrance of the university is quickly closed off. Those walking around the building to the campus square entrance are greeted with more closed doors. A security guard standing there says that there is a ‘lockdown’. He affirms that no one is able to go in or out at the moment and expects it to be over in a few minutes. Some people are able to get in through a side entrance upon showing their student or staff card. Those that want to leave the building can also exit through there.
Six demands
The encampment has six demands, more elaborately described on their Instagram: 1. Suspend all existing collaborations with Israeli corporations and academic institutions until the university's human rights framework is in place. 2. If institutions are linked to systemic or gross violations of human rights, VU must sever ties with those institutions immediately. 3. Provide a concrete timeline for the development of the framework. 4. Disclose VU relationships and funding sources. 5. Reflect on and change VU guidelines on demonstration and peaceful protest. 6. Ensure the right of free expression of students and staff.
Around that time, a new statement on the VU website explains that the building is not accessible. A VU spokesperson says this decision was taken because of “safety considerations”. Meanwhile, lots of students and employees are confused and frustrated. A few of them grow upset with the protesters, leading to at least two heated exchanges. The activists consider it the university’s responsibility for closing the doors and see it as unnecessary. “We weren’t planning to go inside”, says Jay, spokesperson of the encampment. Last Friday on June 7 they did momentarily go inside and make some noise.
Empty-handed
Despite the constant rain the activists chant, yell and dance full of energy. They write ‘Free Palestine’ on the tiles with sprayable chalk. After a while, when the initial group of roughly fifty people seems to have doubled, they paint the same on the entrance doors and tape a large Palestinian flag to the main entrance.
The protest disbands after an hour and forty-five minutes, shortly after they receive word that the negotiators came up empty-handed. At that time, the peace unit of the police also shows up to have a chat with the activists and see what’s going on. Some moments later the front entrance is reopened, the activists take their attributes with them and the slogans are washed off by university staff.
Mayor’s letter
On Friday, the activists announced on their Instagram that the mayor of Amsterdam sent them a letter. According to their photos of the letter, the mayor had requested them to register their protest with the municipality. She also said she allows the encampment so long as certain conditions are met. The list of eight conditions includes that the activists remain in a specific designated area and ‘should not expand in a manner that creates an untenable and unsafe situation’. If the activists disagree with the decision, they are asked to respond within six weeks.
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‘The genocide supporting mayor thinks she has the right to dictate to us how and when we voice our support for Palestine. We have never – and will never – beg to have our voices heard’, the activists write on their Instagram. A follow-up letter, which Ad Valvas has received a screenshot of, indicates that Halsema considered actions during last Friday’s protest to be unacceptable. But because the situation had calmed down, the letter states that the municipality will not intervene. That will be reconsidered if more incidents occur. The letter states the length of the encampment is also a factor in that consideration. Ad Valvas continuously attempted to contact the municipality’s spokespeople and confirm the content of the letter, but they haven’t yet responded.