From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 13, 2024
Amsterdam University closed for 2 days after masked anti-Israel activists storm building in violent sit-in
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – The University of Amsterdam says it will remain closed for two days, after police moved in to end an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest at one of its campuses earlier today.
The university’s board says it had cancelled all classes tomorrow and Wednesday and will close all buildings, as it says it cannot guarantee safety for those on campus.
The university has been the scene of violent clashes between protesters and riot police three times in the past week, as activists who demand that the university cuts all ties with Israeli institutions blocked and occupied campuses.
Today’s protest started as a walk out by university staff and students in response to the violent end to an occupation of a university building on Wednesday.
The university’s board says this protest was peaceful until a group of masked outsiders joined the original group and started blocking entrances and emergency exits, causing serious damage to the building and its library.
Dit is geen demonstratie, dit is mob rule. Een paar extreem vernielzuchtige klootzakjes en een heleboel onverschillige domme meelopers. En één opportunistisch wijf dat een koekschap staat te plunderen. pic.twitter.com/euB3gY4a1j
— Bart Nijman (@BartNijman) May 13, 2024
The protests join a wave of unrest on US university campuses, where students set up anti-Israel protest encampments and called for their schools to dives from Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
