Vidius wants rules for activities related to Israel and Palestine to be relaxed

If you want to organise a gathering or activity in the city centre related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, certain rules apply. Lectures, workshops and debates on the subject must be reported to the university in advance. The event may have no more than forty to fifty participants, and all of them must register. In addition, it is the university security's responsibility to determine the event location and to implement access control at the door. UU introduced these measures to prevent such events from escalating into occupations.

Vidius considers these conditions too strict. The student union believes that they form a barrier for people interested in organising events. According to Vidius, students and staff members have indicated to them that the rules made it so difficult to organise something that they decided not to bother.

For example, Vidius heard that a student tried to organise a reading group about Palestine, but they gave up after several failed attempts to book a room. Another student who wanted to give a lecture on the use of data science to track ships transporting weapons to Israel reported that it took two weeks for security to grant permission for the event, leaving the student with only five days to promote it.

Academic freedom
Vidius finds that the registration procedures, the restrictions regarding the number of participants, and the information that must be provided to security place a heavy burden on organisers. Since the approval process can sometimes take a long time, initiators do not know whether they will be able to organise and promote the event in time. According to the student union, this can discourage students and staff from organising events at all. They also believe that the strict rules stigmatise the subject, which may discourage people from reserving space in their name.

Furthermore, Vidius believes that the regulations are putting academic freedom under pressure. In a press release, Vidius emphasises the importance of addressing the subject outside of lectures. "At present, many lecturers do not dare to touch on the genocide in Palestine during lectures or seminars. It is therefore important that space is provided outside of lectures to further investigate and discuss this subject. Only in this way can we gather more information about the circumstances that led to this genocide. That is what academic freedom is ultimately about: increasing and sharing knowledge."

Conditions
The conditions are so strict due to the occupation of the university library courtyard and the university buildings on Drift and Janskerkhof. UU announced in May 2024 that activities related to the Israel-Palestine conflict would no longer be permitted in the city centre. The events were still allowed to take place at Utrecht Science Park (USP), where security could be better guaranteed. This decision was criticised at the time for the “silencing function” the relocation would have. Since August last year, activities have been allowed to resume in the city centre, albeit under strict conditions. As for events at USP, the university assesses whether additional measures or conditions are necessary on a case-by-case basis.

The university still considers the measures necessary to prevent the events from escalating into occupations or disorder. According to UU, occupations pose a risk to safety and often disrupt education and research. UU also says it is committed to academic freedom and to allowing room for the exchange of ideas; therefore, it claims that it did not take the decision to enforce these conditions lightly. The university also stated that it regularly reviews whether the measures can be relaxed. The next review will take place in early 2026. The spokesperson for UU says that, in the meantime, the university and its security will do their utmost to help organisers ensure that events can go ahead.