How the conversation with NATO soldier Rob Bauer was made impossible
Protesters on Tuesday frustrated a publicly accessible conversation with Rob Bauer, supreme military officer within NATO, at Room for Discussion. Unacceptable, the UvA believes. How do the protagonists look back on the course of events
A simple room at the UvA, blinds half down and no audience. The conversation between Rob Bauer and Room for Discussion mostly took place Tuesday afternoon in an enclosed space. And not, as usual, in the open hall of REC E.
That soon proved to be the only option, after protesters made an open conversation with Bauer impossible. 'What is unfortunate,' Bauer reflects, 'is that there was one-sided shouting, and thus no dialogue,' He would have liked to engage in conversation with the demonstrating students, he indicated, 'but they were not interested in that.' 'Cynical,' is his assessment.
What exactly happened?
The announced conversation with NATO military officer Rob Bauer took place as part of the anniversary series of Room for Discussion, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. As early as the announcement of his arrival, plans arose to disrupt the conversation, says history student Rafael on behalf of a number of protesters, "peace demonstrators" in his own words. Inviting him would be "a questionable decision," according to Rafael, because of NATO's role in "militarizing society" and "escalating war and conflict.
From the outset, the goal of the protesters was to make it impossible for him to speak, Rafael reveals, because "NATO should not be given a platform at UvA. An objection that also reared its head last academic year when former Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer was to stop by for an interview at Room for Discussion. Even then, the activists' message had an effect: after threatening messages on Instagram, Van der Veer canceled the interview at the UvA.
Because of precedents like this - think also of the commotion surrounding the arrival of psychologist Jordan Peterson a few years back - Room for Discussion organizers are invariably apprehensive about student actions. "We are always prepared for demonstrations," says Jonathan Kellogg-De Cock Buning. He was one of two interviewers last Tuesday. In advance, he informed his guest that there might be a demonstration during the interview. That was no problem for Bauer: the NATO military man has faced tougher challenges.
The surprise, however, was in the fact that the protesters did not want the conversation to continue at all, Kellogg-De Cock Buning said. He made several futile attempts to calm things down and continue the conversation. But the booing continued.
Chanting
Which slogans would be chanted was coordinated well in advance. 'Another one I also always like is: 'Save the planet, stop the bombs,' one of the protesters discussed the action. In the end, slogans like 'Free, free Palestine' and 'NATO, shame on you, blood on your hands' passed frequently, and a flag was visible that read, 'Students against NATO. Imperialism = terrorism.' It was notable that Room for Discussion also took a beating, with 'Fuck Room for Discussion' being chanted.
Rafael does not want his last name in this article because he 'does not know what measures the UvA wants to take against the demonstrating students.' After all, on X, the UvA cracks down on the action: 'Not academic, an intellectual weakness and unacceptable.'
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But whether follow-up action will be taken against the students or even measures taken to prevent such demonstrations? 'That remains a tricky one,' said a UvA spokesperson. 'I think it's important to make such a noise on Twitter (now X, ed.) and indicate that this is not the way.'
The UvA spokesperson called what happened "very annoying" and "disappointing for the students who came to UvA for an interview with Bauer. In the end, Bauer agreed to continue the conversation without an audience. You can watch that conversation back via YouTube - a mitigating circumstance for the students who came specifically to the conversation with Bauer in REC-E (to ask questions).
Room for Discussion would prefer not to make such a change in format again. Kellogg-De Cock Buning: "Open discussions, where all UvA students can go to ask questions, are crucial within an academic context."
Rafael's last name is known to the editors.
