Decolonization and Solidarity with Palestine
By Livia Wendland | News | December 6, 2023
Cover Illustration: Staff and students gather in the ABC building at Roeterseiland campus in solidarity with Palestine. Livia Wendland / The Amsterdammer.
News Reporter Livia Wendland reports on the numerous occasions in which UvA students have contested the University’s response to current events in Gaza.
A crowd of over fifty students gathered at the Roeterseiland campus on Oct. 20 to demonstrate their solidarity with Palestine and protest against the alleged complicity of the University of Amsterdam, the Dutch government, and the wider Western world in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This demonstration followed the circulation of a petition demanding action from the university in line with its supposed commitment to education and decolonization.
One student speaker, flanked by peers holding a Palestinian flag, addressed the crowd through a megaphone, stating, “When we speak up against injustice, they [Western institutions] make it seem as if we are the problem — as if speaking up against genocide and apartheid is a problem. But we will not be silent. We say to the European Union and the USA, this blood is on your hands.”
The Roeterseiland demonstration occurred five days after a large solidarity march in central Amsterdam, where 15,000 protesters joined a global movement condemning the Israeli occupation of Palestine and heavy civilian losses incurred in Gaza. Palestinian protest movements date back to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, which marked the beginning of the first Nakba and the forced displacement of Palestinian Arabs by Israeli settlers. As on a number of other occasions since 1948, people around the world are taking to the streets and using social media platforms to raise awareness about the current situation in Gaza.
On Oct. 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, resulting in the loss of 1,400 lives and the capture of approximately 200 hostages. In response, Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been under a military blockade since 2007. The death toll in Gaza has surpassed over 10,000, a staggering number that many activists and some members of the UN have labeled as “collective punishment”. Amnesty International has accused Israel of war crimes, including cutting off essential resources such as water, electricity, and humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as bombing residential areas without sufficient warning. Human Rights Watch has additionally reported the use of white phosphorus by Israel. Hamas has been similarly accused of committing war crimes by attacking and capturing civilians.
On Oct. 9, the UvA released a statement urging staff and students to treat each other with respect and directing those in need towards crisis support resources. Soon after, a petition was created by PhD candidates affiliated with the university, addressed to the executive board and the wider UvA community. The petition criticized the university’s statement for minimizing the “genocidal actions of Israel” to a mere “situation”. The petition has garnered over 1,000 signatures from staff and students, calling on decolonial academics to take a stronger stance against Israel.
The student demonstration of Oct. 20 echoed many of the sentiments expressed in the petition. Student and staff activists delivered speeches on topics such as colonialism, genocide, western complicity, and the false equivalence between Zionism and Judaism. The speakers were greeted with applause and chants of “Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry, Palestine will never die,” and “UvA, UvA, you can’t hide, stop supporting genocide.” One speaker emphasized, “The Israeli government is weaponizing the horrifying deaths of Israeli civilians to unleash hell on Gaza. Can we even call this a war when only one side has an army? When only one side has a state? When only one side has the right to defend itself?”
For many attendees, this demonstration was an act of solidarity. A 21-year-old Communication Science student stated, “I’m here because I’m human. How can anyone stay neutral when bombs are being dropped on trapped civilians?” She was referring to common descriptions of the blockaded Gaza as an “open-air prison”.
Two Literary and Cultural Analysis students from the university, aged 18 and 19, spoke about their duty to support the oppressed and colonized. One of them highlighted, “There is no room for us to take a centrist position on this issue. We’re seeing the reality of the numbers, the events — all this graphic information we receive every day.” Her friend agreed, stating, “I can sit and cry about it, but that doesn’t achieve anything. I want to turn my anger into action, so that’s why I showed up today.”
Members of the activist group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) expressed their disappointment with the university’s official statement. They said, “The UvA prides itself on its decolonial scholarship, but many academics fail to recognize decolonization beyond its use as a metaphor. The university’s previous statement did not acknowledge Palestinian students or the legacy of Israeli apartheid.”
Early in November, a speech delivered by a Palestinian student at a Business Administration graduation ceremony sparked controversy, resulting in the university issuing an apology for allowing a “political message” to be shared during the event. According to Dutchnews and Het Parool, certain audience members took offense to the content of the graduation speech. On Nov. 7, students staged a demonstration on Roeterseiland to protest the university’s response.
“Graduation speeches are an opportunity to share our experiences as students, and he chose to speak about his experiences as a Palestinian student,” explained a 22-year-old Business Administration graduate. Protesters were advised against making explicitly political statements to ensure the safety of the Palestinian graduate and his family. Consequently, the protesters directed their frustration towards the university administration and the dean of Business and Economics.
Another demonstration occurred at the UvA on Nov. 29, two months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. During the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People, numerous staff and students participated in a national walk-out by leaving their classrooms and libraries to gather at Maagdenhuis. Their demands included an end to academic censorship hindering education about Israeli occupation and the termination of collaborations with Israeli institutions. Protesters highlighted how Dutch universities quickly froze collaborations with Russian and Belarusian institutions over the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
One 23-year-old Political Science student expressed her motivation to attend the walk-out, stating, “The war is not over, and I don’t want the support to die down.” She was deeply moved by a speech from a Palestinian student at the demonstration, who described losing contact with friends and family in Gaza. “When this first started, he felt really unsupported,” she recounted. “But when he saw the protests, he realized that he wasn’t alone anymore. This convinced me that if any more protests happen, I should go.”
In light of the war in Gaza, demands for institutional decolonization raise the question of what “decolonization” means for a university. The first step towards decolonization is identifying cases of colonialism. However, there is substantial support for Israel in the West, fueled by a history of American allyship, which rejects terms like occupation and apartheid. The Netherlands, along with many other Western countries, supported Israel’s “right to defend itself” following the Oct. 7 attack.
Dr. Martijn Dekker, a professor of conflict and security studies at the UvA, provided insight on this topic. He stated, “There are debates about what decolonizing academia means, and there are also debates about whether Israel-Palestine is a case of settler colonialism — which is how academia works. We can have well-informed debates.” Drawing on his extensive research on Palestinian non-violent resistance, he personally concludes that Israel is indeed a colonizing state. He urges academic and political institutions to acknowledge the broader context surrounding current events: “If you do not take the history of apartheid and colonization into consideration, you have no idea what’s going on.”
According to Dr. Dekker, education is inherently political, and universities hold significant responsibility in the decolonization process as centers of knowledge production. Decolonization seeks elimination and liberation from the military, economic, cultural, and social impacts of colonization. It involves reflecting on the power dynamics in knowledge production. “It’s asking what is knowledge, how does it get produced, and who decides what knowledge is? It is also about decentering the most powerful voices and amplifying those who are not often heard. We have to continually assess and reassess our syllabus and literature,” Dr. Dekker explained.
Considering the significant loss of human life resulting from the Hamas attack and subsequent military campaign by Israel, it is not surprising that emotions are running high. According to Dr. Dekker and various student demonstrators, this humanitarian crisis should not be seen in isolation but as part of a long history of occupation and violence. Many individuals turn to protest to unite in their shared grief and anger while advocating for personal and collective education. As one member of the SJP stated, “the university is its students, and it is our duty to challenge the institution when it fails to reflect our opinions.”
“The university is its students, and it is our duty to challenge the institution when it fails to reflect our opinions.” — Member of the SJP
Livia Wendland is a university student in Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
