Approximately thirty students of pressure group Nijmegen4Palestine have protested on the Erasmusplein this Wednesday afternoon against what they call the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. ‘We want the university to break all ties with Israel.’

A Palestinian flag and protest banners with “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “100K+ Palestinians killed since 1948. This is a genocide”. On Wednesday afternoon, about thirty students gathered on the Erasmusplein to protest what they call the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Bombardment

The protest was directly prompted by the bombardment of a hospital in Gaza last night, says organiser and student Kayleigh Hofstede from the new pressure group Nijmegen4Palestine. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 500 people lost their lives in the attack. ‘But the bigger picture that is that Israel has already colonised and occupied Palestinian territories for the past 75 years.’

According to Hofstede, Radboud University still has ties with Israel. ‘For instance, we see that it is very easy to arrange an exchange trip to Israel’, Hofstede explains. ‘That’s why we think the university should break ties with Israel, like it did with Russia when they invaded Ukraine.’

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

The Radboud University website lists Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem as partner institutions. A spokesperson of the university states that three students were planning to go to Israel in mid-October. They were discouraged from proceeding with their travel plans.

‘Scientists in Nijmegen and Israel will undoubtedly be in contact’

Whether there are other partnerships between Nijmegen and Israel is something the pressure group wants to investigate further. The university’s spokesperson also does not have a ready-made answer to that question. ‘Scientists in Nijmegen and Israel will undoubtedly be in contact, but whether there are institutional affiliations is something we need to look into.’

Hofstede also announced that student party ‘De Knokpartij’ will be questioning the Executive Board about the matter.

Translated by Sophie Verhoeven