49 arrested at Utrecht University pro-Gaza blockade; Radboud cancels business fair

On Monday evening, the police arrested 49 protesters who had occupied a building of Utrecht University in Utrecht. Radboud University in Nijmegen has canceled the Bèta Business Fair scheduled for Wednesday due to protests.

In Utrecht, the police took the pro-Palestinian protesters out of the building on the Drift in the city center and put them on a bus. They were arrested for trespassing and were taken to another location in Utrecht, where they were released.

The protesters are demanding that the university sever all ties with Israeli institutions. The university announced on Friday that it wants to stop a project in which the Israeli Ministry of Health is also participating and that it will not enter into any new collaborations with Israeli organizations for the time being. However, current collaborations with Israeli institutions will continue.

The university had repeatedly ordered the protesters to leave. When they did not, the police intervened. In the past week and a half, activists have already been in the courtyard of the university library.

Radboud University in Nijmegen has canceled the Bèta Business Fair that was to take place on Wednesday in the Huygens building. Since Tuesday, a tent camp of pro-Palestinian activists has been located next to the building. According to the university, the protesters have not adhered to certain conditions, which “entail incalculable risks.”

The university called the cancellation of the career event “extremely disappointing for all participants, both students, and employees, and companies.” The organization states that it is looking into whether the fair can be rescheduled later this year in consultation with the university.

On Thursday, the Nijmegen university ended a meeting in honor of its own 102nd anniversary due to a pro-Palestinian protest. A demonstrator then took the floor during the ceremony in the auditorium and refused to stop.