UvA lecturers call on government to condemn Israel’s arrest of Jesse van Schaik
A group of lecturers of UvA student Jesse van Schaik has, in a joint appeal, addressed the Executive Board of the UvA and the Dutch government. They believe that Van Schaik’s arrest by Israel should be condemned “in the strongest possible terms”.
Earlier this week, UvA student Jesse van Schaik was removed by the Israeli military from the aid vessel for Gaza on which she was travelling, and since then it has no longer been possible to contact her. To express their concerns about the 21-year-old history student, some of her lecturers have now issued a public appeal urging the Executive Board of the UvA and the Dutch government to speak out against Van Schaik’s arrest. The letter has currently been signed by around twenty lecturers; more may join at a later stage.
“Physical violence”
“We do not know where she is, but suspect that she is being held in illegal detention in Israel,” historian and medieval history lecturer Nathan van Kleij wrote in a LinkedIn post. He is one of the lecturers who signed the appeal. “Passengers from flotilla vessels that were previously illegally abducted to Israel report having been subjected there to physical violence and abuse, including sexual assault.”
The lecturers are calling on the Dutch government “to condemn the abduction and detention of Jesse and her fellow travellers, this violation of international law, in the strongest possible terms, and to do everything in its power to protect Jesse and the other passengers and ensure their safe return home.” The lecturers expect the Executive Board to support this demand.
Yesterday, Anne van Schaik, Jesse’s mother, made a similar appeal in de Volkskrant. She was critical there of Prime Minister Jetten: “Now that he is in power, he can call on Israel to put an end to the genocide, he can ensure that my child returns home safely, along with all the other people on the flotilla, but he is not doing so.”
This article was updated at 14:38.
