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international

A.t.o.m.o.s. student society denies claims of anti-Semitism

27 september 2018 - 10:56

The board of the male student society A.t.o.m.o.s has denied nuisance claims lodged by local residents that its members sang anti-Semitic songs.

According to local residents, members of A.t.o.m.o.s., which has its clubhouse at Keizersgracht 724, drove German army trucks through the streets, threw smoke bombs, caused general noise and nuisance and sang anti-Semitic songs. The complaints pertain to behaviour that occurred during the societies’ ‘introduction’ weeks. One resident stated: ‘They acted like a separate community. One for which other rules applied.’

The society states that it intends to ‘do everything it can to minimise future nuisance’

The board of A.t.o.m.o.s. denies the accusations and says it is ‘shocked by the allegations of anti-Semitism’. ‘This is strongly rejected within our society. We know for sure that our members did not sing anti-Semitic songs.’ As for the truck, they say it was an American army truck. ‘And the music was from the TV series, The A-Team. We thought it was funny.’

 

The board is aware of having caused nuisance in the neighbourhood. ‘We always try to consult residents well in advance […] In recent years, we think this went well. Unfortunately, we accept this not to be the case this time.’ The society states that it intends to ‘do everything it can to minimise future nuisance’ and improve communication with the neighbourhood.

 

A.t.o.m.o.s., a male student society, is part of the large student association A.S.C./A.V.S.V. This association has over 2.700 members. There was an incident recorded last year at the A.t.o.m.o.s. society when an aspiring member lost a tooth after he had been abused by three senior students.