A message posted by the university on X last Thursday morning was the immediate cause of the occupation. 'We agreed on several concrete steps the University will take regarding its ties to Israeli Universities. We will publish the details tomorrow,' the board wrote after negotiating with activist groups. What exactly, would be revealed a day later.

That was not what was agreed, Students for Palestine (SfP) and Scholars for Palestine claim. The two groups have long been campaigning to break ties with Israeli research institutions. According to them, the university had promised to make follow-up steps public immediately.

When those steps weren’t shared immediately, some fifty protesters entrench themselves on the third floor of the Wijnhaven building in The Hague around one o'clock. The university immediately cancels all activities in the building, and any students and staff still present slowly trickle out. The security guard at the door no longer lets anyone in.

Boycott, Divest

A group of sympathetic students and faculty gathered in front of the building. 'Boycott! Divest,' the activists shout almost continuously during the occupation that willlast about seven hours. 'We will not stop, we will not rest!' Occasionally the occupiers briefly show themselves on balconies and in front of windows, sometimes carrying a banner.

The demonstrators standd both in front of the main entrance to the Wijnhaven building and at a side door on the Turfhaven. Huge cheers are heard as about one hundred and fifty students from Rotterdam approachfrom the train station. Their own demonstration at Rotterdam Central has come to an end not long before. At its peak, there are at least four hundred people in front of the faculty building.

Through the ground-floor window, they watch as representatives of the university, including interim FGGA dean Koen Caminada, negotiate with students throughout the day in the presence of police.

Those negotiations seem to be bearing fruit. In the early evening, the university releases the announced "concrete steps" in an English-language statement. The exchange programs with Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University will be put on hold until after an evaluation.

A committee will be established to review "human rights, and use of research for military purposes. In the meantime, an ad hoc committee will be set ‘which will create an ethical framework based on which current and future institutional ties and joint research projects will be evaluated.' Should the assessment of the committee indicate that our institutional partners are in breach of our ethical standards, we will break our institutional ties.’

Students for Palestine activists find it insufficient, as one of them shares the university’s propasal through a megaphone. 'This proposal does not prevent new collaborations pending rulings by a committee!'

There will be no further negotiations. The university announces that the building must be vacated at 19:30. The protesters link arms and shout, ‘You are not alone!’ In groups, the occupiers come out, accompanied by police officers. For a moment, confusion arises when it is not clear how many people remain in the building. Through the window, a police arrest team can be seen walking up the escalators with bundles of tie wraps on their belts. Yet they come down again without having made any arrests; the last activists have left the building through the side door not long before. When, at a quarter past eight, it appears that no one is left inside, the demonstrators walk toward the station, with arms linked.

Closed buildings

No damage appears to have been done during the occupation, confirmed employees who were present in the Wijnhaven building. According to them, only stickers were placed and there was some writing with whiteboard markers on windows. One of the staff members told Mare he stayed inside to make sure the students did not commit vandalism, and that he saw ‘zero aggression and zero vandalism’ inside. 'I was very surprised at how they behaved. It strengthened my confidence that our students are demonstrating peacefully.’

On Friday morning, some 20 Leiden Student Encampment activists occupy the botanical garden. As the garden opens, they pitch their throw-up tents, lock the gate on the Rapenburg side, and hang up banners. Access via the Nonnensteeg remains open to let in new activists. Visitors who ask at the fence if they can enter to go to their courses are disappointed. The university has closed the hortus, the Kamerlingh Onnes building and the Old Observatory. 'If it were up to us it could have gone ahead,' says one of the activists.

When the university publishes the proposed measures regarding Israeli collaborations in Dutch in the afternoon, the occupiers repeat their objections. 'We have known for a long time that Israel is committing genocide, a commission only works to delay. We don't need more research, we need to break the ties now,' says Leiden Student Encampment spokesman Neele on Friday afternoon.

At four o'clock, the activists are told to leave. The majority of the hundred or so people present comply and continue their protest in front of the fence. When the police issue an ultimatum to those still present - leave within 15 minutes or there will be a crackdown - they too clean up their belongings. By half past four, the hortus is empty. After another hour of protesting on the Rapenburg, the activists leave.

The protesters were allowed to use the restrooms in the entry building. Hortus employees also set up a table with coffee and tea. A wedding in the orangery could also go ahead after consultation. The occupiers promised not to shout any slogans during the wedding ceremony. To thank them, the groom brought biscuits and chocolates. 'Because you will be here for a while.'

In a statement this week, SfP said the University's proposed approach is 'too vague, nontransparent and open to multiple interpretations.' According to them, waiting for the verdict of a human rights commission is a waste of time: 'There is no need for an investigation as this information is already known. The complicity and contribution of Israeli universities and their research projects to Israel's colonial project is also clear and can easily be answered, for example, by Maya Wind's book "Towers of Ivory and Steel."' The action group therefore calls for an immediate and complete academic boycott.

University spokesperson Mischa van Vlier confirms to Mare that nothing was damaged during the protests. Regarding the negotiations with the action group, he said the university would 'commit to communication and report on existing ties with Israeli universities as soon as possible.'

Currently, the university is not conducting negotiations with action groups.
 
A conversation the board had last week with anthropologist Maya Wind did not influence the measures announced, according to Van Vlier: 'The policy had been drafted beforehand.'
 
On Wednesday evening, the university announced that students who had already applied for an exchange with one of the two universities in Israel will be able to go there next semester.

It seems likely that there will be further actions. At the end of the hortus protest, protesters shouted loudly, 'We will come back stronger!' On Instagram, Students for Palestine writes, 'Stay tuned.'

Written with the cooperation of Sjors Schaap and Vincent Bongers