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2025 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the Netherlands
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The 2025 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the Netherlands are a series of demonstrations, encampments, and building occupations by students and staff at Dutch universities, demanding an end to institutional ties with Israeli academic and research organizations in response to the ongoing war in Gaza and Israeli military actions on the genocide of Palestinians.[1][2][3][4]
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Background
Protests against the genocide in Gaza and Dutch university ties with Israeli institutions began as early as October 2023, but escalated in the spring of 2025 following the Israeli offensive in Rafah, the increased awareness of war crimes committed by the Israeli army, and the spread of campus protests in the United States and Europe. Demonstrators called for an academic boycott of Israel, divestment from companies supplying the Israeli military, and full transparency about institutional collaborations.[5][6]
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Universities involved
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Amsterdam University
On 14 April 2025, dozens of masked pro-Palestinian activists occupied the Maagdenhuis, the main administration building of the University of Amsterdam. Staff were ordered to leave, entrances were barricaded, and banners and Palestinian flags were displayed from the windows.[1][2][4] The occupiers demanded the immediate severance of all ties with Israeli institutions. The university refused to negotiate with masked occupiers and filed a police report.[1][4]
Radboud University Nijmegen
In May 2025, at Radboud University, activists briefly occupied the Berchmanianum building. A university representative refused to negotiate with the protestors.[3] Police operations at the campus led to three arrests, with some incidents involving the use of batons and police dogs, leading to a protestor sustaining injuries from a bite of a police dog.[3]
Utrecht University
In March 2025, pro-Palestinian activists chained themselves to the entrance of the administration building at Utrecht University in the Utrecht Science Park, temporarily blocking access.
On 7 May 2025, a year after the previous attempt at a student encampment in the same location, protestors set up tents and banners in the courtyard of the university's academic library.[7][8] The encampment was established as a permanent protest site and features daily teach-ins, workshops, public lectures, documentary screenings, and community discussions. The encampment was named in honor of Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat that was killed on 24 March 2025 by an Israeli airstrike.[9]
On 19 May 2025, the protesters also occupied the university building Drift 13 and were met with police intervention. Police entered the premises and forcibly removed the students. Outside of the building, several protesters were also hit with police violence, with some sustaining injuries.[10][11] The riot police arrested 49 individuals for trespassing and transported them by bus to another location in Utrecht, with most being released later that night.[12][13][14] The police action was criticized by several staff groups within the university and by the mayor of Utrecht.[15][16][17][18]
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See also
References
External links
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