Taskforce: “Universities must do more to guarantee the safety of Jewish people”
Jewish students and staff at Dutch universities are feeling increasingly unsafe. This is the conclusion of the Taskforce on Combating Anti-Semitism in a study that also includes interviews with UvA students. The taskforce calls on universities to offer more active and visible support to the Jewish community.
Universities must stand up for Jewish students and staff “more clearly, more often and more publicly”, thereby “strengthening their social safety”. This is according to the Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism in its report Gevangen in Vrijheden (Trapped in Freedoms). The task force was commissioned by the cabinet to investigate pro-Palestinian demonstrations at universities and colleges.
The task force spoke to more than 120 people, including Jewish staff and students at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The report shows that many often feel unsafe at the university and often encounter anti-Semitism. For example, interviewees indicate that they “feel cornered by the growth of protest activities” and that “an unsafe working and learning environment has developed at the institutions”.
Jewish UvA students share their experiences at the university in the report. One anonymous student says they “just want to be able to be Jewish unconditionally”. Another student reports being called a “cancer Jew” during a lecture. This student has been in talks with the Executive Board: “What I noticed is that they have no idea how to deal with this. Lecturers are afraid, deans are afraid. They don’t understand what this means for Jewish students. I asked: how can you guarantee that this won’t happen to me? And then they said: we can’t.”
Important right
In addition to offensive or anti-Semitic remarks, the report also refers to other factors that contribute to the feeling of insecurity among Jewish people at universities and colleges: for example, there is said to be online harassment and the work of Jewish student associations is regularly disrupted. Furthermore, the considerable support for pro-Palestinian protests and slogans is said to contribute negatively to the sense of security among Jewish students and staff. The report emphasises that the right to demonstrate is an important right and that the actions are not necessarily anti-Semitic, but that they can be perceived as such.
Finally, the task force presents concrete proposals to guarantee the safety of Jewish students and staff. Among other things, they advise higher education institutions to strengthen the role of confidential advisors, ensure that Jewish activities can take place, and take more effective action against misconduct surrounding protests.
According to Reformatorisch Dagblad (RD), Vice-Chancellor Peter-Paul Verbeek has announced that the University of Amsterdam has already taken several measures in recent months to increase safety and mutual respect on campus. The UvA will use this report to build on these measures.
