It’s great that so many people from the UG joined the protests two weeks ago. But Bram Douwes and Emma Wijers, with culture student centre Usva, think the protest was too pathetic for words. ‘Could we please be a bit more radical? Cancel the fucking fries and block a highway.’
On Tuesday, 18 March, UG and Hanze lecturers, students, and employees protested against the budget cuts to higher education. You know the score: the first Wilders government is tearing down everything of value: culture, the rule of law, and education. During the protest’s busiest time, there were three thousand people gathered at the Grote Markt.
Obviously, this is great. Perhaps even historical. But at its worst, the protest was just another typically Dutch affair, with people prioritising ‘gezelligheid’ over anything else. To that, we say: fuck the free fries, fascism is one the rise.
Resistance starts with unity and organisation, so it’s great that so many people gathered with the same goal. Kudos to #organizetherug and the Groningen Student Union. But what we’re missing is the uncompromisingly dark urgency of this era. Sure, you can argue that a good atmosphere is important and offer people free fries and music, but what’s the use of that in the face of rising fascism? Could we please be a bit more radical?
What we’re missing is the uncompromisingly dark urgency of this era
‘Don’t do it!’, the masses shouted in protest against the budget cuts that afternoon. It was an easy slogan to chant, especially for the people who were attending a protest for the first time in their life, but it was essentially so pathetic that it lacked all power as a missive to our government.
A small group of pro-Palestine protesters attended this protest as well, and justly so, since Israel had dropped a bomb on another two hundred children that morning. But just like before, they were asked to keep it low key. We’re not talking about that today!
At an earlier protest against the budget cuts, people even demurred against a speech on Palestine: sure, dead children are a shame, but we’re talking about the university’s economic impact on the province here!
Dead Palestinian children are a shame, but we’re talking about economic impact here
However, Palestine, war, and budget cuts are all related: every single one of the billions of euros that’s now being spent on the rearmament of Europe (or F16 planes for Israel, even) could also be used to rearm higher education.
We’ve started to believe that the only way to defend democracy is with the use of tanks and soldiers at the border, when instead, a lack of budget cuts or, rather, an investment in knowledge and research will make us better and more sustainably equipped to fight our current and future authoritarian oppressors.
So, are protests supposed to be amiable? Should we be handing out free fries? Should the Palestinian flags be kept out of sight?
No. Unite! And please, be disruptive. Cancel the fucking fries, turn off the music. Block a highway, embrace the pro-Palestine people and give them the room to be furious. You should be furious too! And for God’s sake, draw a little moustache on Marjolein Faber. Do it!
Emma Wijers is president of the Usva student board, Bram Douwes is head of Usva.