The UG and the municipality are jointly looking into whether security on the Broerplein can be improved now that university buildings have been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists on three separate occasions.
In November, the façade of the UB was vandalised and in December it happened again, while fourteen large windows were also smashed then. Last weekend, prior to the university’s Open Day, it happened again.
Therefore, the university and the municipality are going to take a good look at the situation on Broerplein. ‘We don’t know yet what we’re going to do exactly,’ says a spokesperson for the UG. ‘We might add more streetlamps to the square or ask the police to come by more often.’
Red paint
Meanwhile, it is proving quite difficult to get rid of the pro-Palestinian slogans like ‘Free Gaza’ and ‘From the river to the sea’ that were painted in red on the Academy building, the Röling building and the UB last weekend.
Although the university immediately deployed a cleaning crew on Saturday to clean the buildings before the start of the Open Day, some of the paint remained visible, especially on the Academy building.
Sandstone
On Wednesday, a cleaning crew was again cleaning the steps in front of the Academy building with a pressure washer. Although these are now clean, the sandstone pillars, among others, remain a problem. Sandstone is a relatively soft type of stone and therefore prone to scratches and stains.
‘We have already sprayed it with water once,’ says the spokesperson. ‘We’re looking into what else we can do to get rid of it.’ The UB’s windows were all replaced this week.