4 June 2025
Follow the latest news here. You can also read the urgent letter to the government and the Rector's letter from the last week of May.
On the lawn at the Roeterseiland Campus, demonstrators set up a tent camp on Monday, 2 June to express their deep concern about the situation in Gaza. Rector Peter-Paul Verbeek and FMG Dean Christa Boer engaged in discussions with the organisers.
The tent camp was dismantled on the evening of Friday, 20 June. The demonstrators cleared the tents peacefully.
The Whitsun weekend passed calmly.
A brief update on the action points communicated on Tuesday, 3 June:
Action point 1: the urgent letter to the government was sent on Friday, 6 June
Action point 2: regarding national support for placing the issue on the European agenda, the Rector has contacted other universities. UNL is facilitating the discussion
Action point 5: the technical meeting took place on Wednesday, 4 June
The night at the tent camp on Roeterseiland Campus once again passed peacefully. Deans and colleagues from Facility Services (FS) are regularly checking in with the demonstrators to see how they are doing and are discussing practical matters to ensure everything proceeds in an orderly manner. The buildings at Roeterseiland Campus will be closed in the coming days due to the long Whitsun weekend. The mobile toilet will remain in place.
Following the six steps previously outlined (see below under 'Update 3 – Tuesday, 3 June, 16:00'), an urgent letter has been sent today to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Eppo Bruins. In this letter, all UvA deans call on the cabinet to commit to upholding international law in Gaza and Israel. The letter is co-signed by Rector Peter-Paul Verbeek and Vice-President of the Executive Board, Jan Lintsen. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
‘We urgently call on you, the Dutch government, and through you the European institutions and international community, to actively promote compliance with international humanitarian law by all parties involved in the conflict, and to speak out against the use of disproportionate force and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid efforts.’
‘We strongly urge the government to cooperate with international courts to investigate and ensure accountability for potential war crimes and human rights violations, and to protect the rights of all communities in the region, regardless of ethnicity, religion or nationality.’ Read the full letter here.
The weekly sit-in will take place on Thursday afternoon in the central hall of Building A at the Roeterseiland Campus. A demonstration has also been announced for 13:00. As examinations are scheduled for today and we want to avoid any disruption to teaching and research as far as possible, we are, as a precaution, closing the doors on the canal side. Everyone will still be able to exit the building. Staff and students wishing to enter will be directed to the appropriate entrances on site.
On Wednesday afternoon, a technical meeting took place between a delegation of demonstrators and three deans of the UvA. This meeting provided space for questions and discussion about how European research collaboration is structured. The UvA attendees found it to be a good conversation, in which both sides listened to each other critically.
After the meeting, a message was received from the demonstrators stating that they no longer wish to continue the conversation. We regret this. We appreciate the way the dialogue has been conducted over the past few days. We have sat down together several times and also announced actions on our part. Despite the decision to end the dialogue, we will proceed with those actions.
The night at the tent camp on the Roeterseiland Campus fortunately passed peacefully. This afternoon, a ‘technical meeting’ will be held, during which a delegation of the demonstrators can ask questions about the structure of European research collaboration. This meeting includes several deans, as they hold the mandate for European collaborations.
The municipality has since handed the demonstrators a WOM letter. This letter outlines the municipal regulations concerning public demonstrations. As the REC lawn—where the tent camp is situated—is publicly accessible, the municipality has the authority to act in this matter.
The scheduled meeting with Rector Peter-Paul Verbeek and two deans, Christa Boer (FMG) and Marieke de Goede (FGw), has now taken place. The Rector described it as a robust yet open dialogue in which various viewpoints were shared. The meeting resulted in six agreements, which are explained below.
1. Urgent letter to the Dutch government
The UvA deans will take the initiative to send an urgent letter to the government, in which they will take a stronger stance against the genocidal violence in Gaza and call on Israel to take responsibility. The letter is expected to be sent later this week.
2. National support for a European agenda
Efforts are being made to assess whether there is nationwide support to, like the Belgian rectors, request the European Commission to reconsider its collaboration with Israel and to prioritise this matter urgently.
3. Accelerated review of collaboration with Tel Aviv University
The Executive Board is expected to adopt the Third-Party Collaboration Assessment Framework today. The deans will examine it next week, so that a request can then be submitted to the assessment committee for an accelerated review of the collaboration with Tel Aviv University.
4. Collaboration with Tel Aviv University
The demonstrators’ request to freeze the collaboration with Tel Aviv University aligns with the ongoing dialogue between the Executive Board and the representative advisory bodies. The outcome of this dialogue will be widely shared.
5. Technical meeting on European research programmes
A technical meeting will be held on Wednesday, 4 June, to explain how European research programmes – such as Horizon Europe – operate and the conditions for participation.
6. Follow-up dialogue
All parties involved have agreed to continue the conversation and to ensure that the issue remains a high priority.
The night at the tent camp on the Roeterseiland campus passed peacefully. This morning at 8:30, the planned follow-up meeting (between a delegation of the demonstrators, the rector, and two deans) began.
Several times, the question was raised why the tents are now allowed to remain, whereas they were removed last year. The reason is that the Public Prosecution Service has determined that while the lawn is UvA property, it cannot be closed off and is therefore considered public space. As such, it is up to the municipality to decide whether or not to intervene. For now, the municipality sees no reason to do so.
The Rector and Dean had a good conversation with the demonstrators. Different perspectives and dilemmas were shared in an open and constructive atmosphere. Although the mood on the lawn is calm, for safety reasons it is advised to dismantle the camp in the evening — whether temporarily or not.
The conversation will continue tomorrow.
Since Monday, 2 June 2025 at around 13:00, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have set up a tent camp at the Roeterseiland Campus in response to their deep concern about the situation in Gaza. They are calling on the UvA community to jointly explore ways to best express solidarity.
Rector Magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek and FMG Dean Christa Boer have engaged in dialogue with the organisers of the occupation.