Alumni hand in diplomas in protest against UvA's Israel policy

“This diploma, this proof of graduation, is no longer a symbol of pride,” the group of alumni wrote in a statement. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal is one of the signatories. 

The alumni are angry that UvA does not want to renew a student exchange programme with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem following an internal recommendation about ‘collaboration with third parties’. According to the UN, the university in Jerusalem is said to have ties with the Israeli army and does not distance itself from human rights violations committed in Gaza, 

According to the group of alumni, UvA could have taken better measures to guarantee the safety of its Jewish students. “They often feel threatened by the explicitly anti-Zionist nature of the protests at universities.”

Khalil
Returning a diploma is an unusual means of protest. In the United States, alumni have torn up their diplomas in protest. On Saturday, Columbia University graduates did this to protest the prison sentence of Mahmoud Khalil, a student who was arrested for protesting in favour of the Palestinian cause.

As far as we know, this is the first time such a protest has happened in the Netherlands. Leiden historian Pieter Slaman, who specialises in university history, is not aware of any other examples.

However, people have threatened to do this before. At the end of 2021, a group of Delft engineers wanted to return their diplomas because Frans Timmermans, then Vice-President of the European Commission, had been nominated for an honorary doctorate for his commitment to the climate. They considered this “a disgrace to science” but did not carry out their threat.

Regrettable
The protesters are still considered UvA alumni. The university still has a copy of their diplomas. UvA's Executive Board says it is regrettable that the alumni are no longer proud of UvA, but the university will not change its mind. “We are looking at how we could resume cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under certain conditions”, a spokesperson told Folia, “but we were already planning to do that.”

According to UvA critics, the university is not going far enough. In an op-ed on Folia, three scientists from the group ‘UvA Staff for Palestine’ call it just a small first step. They want UvA to cut all ties “with Israeli universities that provide technical support and legitimacy for carrying out atrocities and genocide”.