Over a hundred students and staff members walked out of their lectures at 11 a.m. on Monday and gathered at the Harmonie square to show solidarity with Palestinian workers.
The walkout was in response to the call from united Palestinian trade unions, marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel and the subsequent bloody war in Gaza. The protesters took fifteen minutes to reflect on ‘the struggles of Palestinian workers and people under the settler colonial occupation of Israel’, as Instagram account encampment.rug put it.
Calm atmosphere
Some participants wore face coverings, but many did not. The mood was calm, with people mostly talking to each other. Shortly before 11.30 a.m., the group chanted slogans in unison, after which the square emptied out.
As has happened before in the past year, the UG took precautionary measures. This time, the gates between the Harmonie square and the Harmonie building were closed. All buildings remained open however, according to a university spokesperson, with other ‘invisible’ measures in place.
The police also monitored the situation. Two officers arrived at the Harmonie square just before 11 a.m., observed for about twenty minutes, and then left, as they did not anticipate any disturbances.
Sit-in demonstration
A larger pro-Palestinian demonstration is planned for 3 p.m. this Monday. Participants are asked to gather at the Grote Markt before marching to the main station, where they intend to hold a ‘sit-in’ – a way to draw attention to the war by sitting in and around the station.