Pro-Palestine demonstrators leave Drift 25

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the university building at Drift 25 last Tuesday, September 30. Like in previous occupations, they demanded that Utrecht University sever all ties with Israeli institutions, but this time they were also angry about a statement made by UU Rector Wilco Hazeleger, who said that UU is 'boycotting' Israel by not entering into any new partnerships with institutions of that country. The protesters find it ludicrous to say so when ten projects in partnership with Israeli institutions are still ongoing. Nine of these are European partnerships (Horizon) and one is a project from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

On Thursday morning, the university entered the building to investigate it, but the protesters had already left. They had blocked the doors from the inside. It is unclear how they managed to leave the building.

The protesters are now in The Hague to draw the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the aid workers who were intercepted by Israeli troops while travelling by boat near Gaza. They also say that they will continue protesting the Executive Board until UU breaks all ties with Israel.