Activistenpartij UvA

Our reaction to the recent message from the Rector and the new student encampment at REC.

On the 28th of May, the UvA’s Rector (currently also the acting Chair of the CvB) Peter-Paul Verbeek finally acknowledged that “genocidal violence is taking place in Gaza,” citing the Netherlands Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies. This comes after more than a year and a half of pressure from student and staff actions, and the Activistenpartij welcomes this as a first step towards advocating for justice for the Palestinians in Gaza who have endured over 600 days of Israel’s illegal siege. However, we are disappointed to see that naming the genocide has not compelled our Rector to exercise academic responsibility in cutting ties with institutions complicit in said genocide. 

We would like to remind the Rector that genocide is a crime under international law, that invokes a moral and legal imperative for the international community to prevent and punish. There is simply no excuse to remain passive. Sharing scientific perspectives on this matter in no way amounts to a “meaningful contribution” towards ending the human rights violations in Gaza if our university does not put its weight behind these perspectives by enacting an academic boycott of Israel. 

Right now, students and staff have set up a liberated encampment at Roeterseiland demanding an academic boycott, and they will not leave until all ties to Israeli universities are cut. The liberated Al-Najjar Campus on the REC grass is a radical and democratic space open to anyone who would like to raise their voice to speak against the ethnic cleansing and mass murder of Palestinians. The Activistenpartij stands in full support of this encampment. 

This is our message to the CvB: if you are serious about allowing “the utmost space for debate, criticism and differing opinions” at this university, honour your commitment to the principles of academic freedom by negotiating with the organisers of the encampment in good faith, instead of pressing charges or calling the riot police on conscientious and peaceful protesters. We once again urge the CvB to heed the activists’ demands to end our university’s collaborations with genocide-complicit institutions once and for all, to show some humanity and stand on the right side of history.

With hope and solidarity,

Activistenpartij UvA.