‘Civic’ consultation paused after Science Park demonstration
‘Civic’ consultations between students of the Science Faculty and the faculty board have been paused, following the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last Monday. “First aftercare for students, colleagues and the building.”
Following the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that took place at Science Park last Monday, the faculty board did not resume the consultations with students. The initially peaceful demonstration saw security cameras vandalised, passages blocked and barricades erected later in the evening. With this, the organisation of the ‘civic’ consultations at the Science Park has also been suspended for the time being.
Tent and a banner
The talks between the faculty board and students at Science Park arose from a smaller protest: about five students with a tent and a banner who turned up in front of the entrance to the main 904 building at the end of May.
“It came out of frustration that the concerns about the situation in Palestine that were playing out across the UvA were barely visible on Science Park,” master student Luka explains. “We had never done anything like this before, but got a lot of positive reactions and also discussions, exactly what we were hoping for actually.”
“It came out of frustration that the concerns about the situation in Palestine that were playing out across the UvA were barely visible on the Science Park,” master student Luka explains. “We had never done anything like this before, but got a lot of positive reactions and also discussions, exactly what we were hoping for actually.”
The faculty board - after some hesitation - also wanted to engage with the students. The students’ demands were to sever academic ties with Israel, and since dean Peter van Tienderen did not want to meet them, as he “did not want to make a decision without the support of everyone on the faculty,” the students suggested the idea of a ‘civic’ consultation. The students and the faculty board agreed on the title of that deliberation, Cutting ties with Israel, why and how? and the independent NGO G1000, which was supposed to organise it, was also involved in the talks in recent weeks.
While the student council of the faculty went public with a press release earlier that a ‘civic’ consultation was going to be organised, the faculty board did not yet make itself heard. Last Friday, it became clear that it would not be feasible to organise the consultation before the summer. The students did wait for a statement from the faculty, which they said had been agreed upon before the summer. That statement also failed to materialise during the discussion last Monday.
Pause button
Parallel to that event, the larger-scale pro-Palestine demonstration was organised at Science Park last Monday, which was also attended by students from the smaller protest. As a result, the faculty board cancelled the planned meeting with the students last Wednesday.
“We pressed the pause button,” the spokesperson on behalf of the faculty board informed. “First, all attention is now still on the consequences of last Monday, the aftercare for colleagues, students and the building.” These included cleaning and tidying up, ordering new windows, and the need among staff to discuss the events with each other. The dean also updated the works council and faculty student council on Monday’s events.
The students are still open to further dialogue with the administration, but are awaiting a response. Whether and when talks will resume is not yet known.
Master student Luka would not say his full name, but it is known to the editors.
