Around twenty protesters occupied the second floor of the Erasmus building on Monday. They block the entrance to a seminar room and have covered the windows with aluminium foil. Additionally, two protesters have been arrested by the police.

Approximately twenty pro-Palestine protesters occupied the second floor of the Erasmus building on Monday afternoon. The protesters, who covered their faces, blocked the entrance to the teaching area and covered the windows with aluminium foil. Following this, they sat on the floor.

Shortly before, two protesters were taken by the police from the bicycle parking in the basement of the Erasmus building. According to Radboud University security, the protesters were covering cameras with graffiti so other protesters would be able to enter undetected. A police spokesperson confirmed that the security guards had stopped two protesters and then called the police. The protesters were then arrested.

Liberated zone

Following a short protest march alongside the Berchmanianum, protesters entered through the side entrance of the Erasmus building. Several security guards were waiting for them there, but let them walk inside.

After approximately 150 students and employees had entered the Erasmus building, a spokesperson declared a ‘new liberated zone on campus.’ He said that a small group of protesters had occupied the second floor of the building.

Approximately 20 people with face coverings and backpacks had previously entered the Erasmus building to occupy the second floor. They are planning to remain on the floor until the executive board will cut ties with Israeli universities.

In support of the occupiers, other protesters engaged in a temporary sit-in on the ground floor of the Erasmus building. ‘The executive board must cut ties with genocide,’ one spokesperson calls out. ‘Let the occupiers know that they have our support. We ask you to engage in this sit-in and to remain peaceful.’

Red line

Because of the occupation, lectures couldn’t go through on the second wing of the Erasmus building. ‘I can’t reach the room where my Intercultural Communications lecture is taking place right now,’ says Fleur, a third-year communication science student. ‘I didn’t get an email or schedule change, so I sent a message to my teacher to explain what’s going on. I hope that’s okay; you can only miss one or two lectures.’

The executive board had said earlier that they would tolerate the protesters as long as educational and research activities would not be jeopardised. The red line has seemingly been crossed now. Whether that would mean that the executive board would let the protesters be removed from the building, was still unclear on Monday afternoon. ‘We are still trying to understand what’s going on,’ a University spokesperson said in response to questions by Vox.

Translation: Antonia Leise