AUC vandalized again: Cracks in the window, graffiti on façades
One large and another, smaller crack marred the window of the Amsterdam University College Monday morning. There are also new graffiti on the plinth of the building. “You are relatively powerless against vandalism.”
After an extremely unsettled week on the Amsterdam University College (AUC) campus - daily pro-Palestine demonstrations, canceled lectures and exams, nearly 20 arrests - it is time to clean up the shards. And not just in a figurative sense, as evidenced Monday morning at the entrance.
There are two cracks in the window of the AUC building, one large and one somewhat smaller. Probably caused by thrown stones, thinks Marcus Smit, head of the communications department at AUC. Given the size and depth of the cracks, a plausible scenario.
On the other side of the entrance, new slogans have been scrawled on the wall in the same handwriting as the previous graffiti on the building, such as “You endorse police violence” and “Racist institute.” Many a student, while going about their business, takes a quick picture of it. Here we go again, you can almost hear some of them thinking.
Meetings with students
It cannot be said with certainty whether last week’s activists are behind the vandalism. It is plausible, however, especially since because another new slogan on the side wall of the building once again emphasizes the cause of the recent dissatisfaction: “So, then: You do not support Palestine.” The activists previously stated that they believe the UvA and the VU should condemn the “ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people under the apartheid regime” and that the universities should sever ties with Israeli institutions.
But this is definitely not the way to do it, Smit believes. Destruction is by no means an “open conversation with interaction.” He calls it “very annoying” and “terrible” what has happened, because “you are relatively powerless against vandalism.” A report will be filed with the police (again).
At the same time, the AUC is pushing initiatives very hard that get the discussion about the war in Gaza back on track. Among other things – “We have countless initiatives”- through meetings with students and faculty, Smit says, and through talks with the student council.
De-escalation
To facilitate the “proposed negotiation with the protesters,” several teachers of the faculty, have called on AUC-dean Martin van Hees to stop using police in any new demonstrations, hoping for some de-escalation. How they feel about that after this new damage is still unknown.
The receptionist present at the time, who works right next to the cracked window, still feels safe on campus, she reveals when asked. She is sure that the graffiti on the façade and the damage to the window that occurred simultaneously are a continuation of the recent demonstrations. But she remains remarkably level-headed about it. “As long as they don’t impact me.”
