Police clear Dante building after pro-Palestinian occupation
In the night from Thursday to Friday, the occupation of the Dante Building on the campus of Tilburg University was brought to an end. Around 1:30 AM, a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators was removed from the premises by the police’s riot unit (ME). The eviction proceeded in an orderly manner and without violence.
Activists from Palestine Solidarity Tilburg (PST) occupied the Dante Building on Thursday evening in protest against the university’s ties with Israeli institutions. The action began during Night University, the annual campus and science festival, which was cut short this year due to safety concerns. While the program was originally scheduled to last until 12:45 AM, it was halted at 11:00 PM, and visitors and staff left the campus.
After the festival ended, a group of demonstrators remained outside the building’s main entrance, which they had barricaded with chairs and tables. They chanted slogans through megaphones and sang continuously.
The demonstration drew attention from groups of local residents, who watched from a distance. Inside the building, demonstrators had set up tents and hung banners, clearly indicating their intent to occupy Dante for an extended period.
It then took several hours before the police arrived. Around 1:30 AM, several police vans appeared on the scene. The group of demonstrators outside the building left immediately after the police issued their first call to vacate the area. The riot police then cleared the main entrance and began evacuating the building.
Most demonstrators left the building on foot, while a few were carried out. In total, 22 people were arrested and taken away in police vans.
The operation remained peaceful. By around 3:00 AM, the last demonstrator had been removed, and the Dante Building was fully vacated.
The action at Dante is part of a broader wave of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses both in the Netherlands and abroad. Students and staff are calling for an end to academic collaborations with Israel.
Today, the Dante Building is once again accessible to students and staff. Classes are continuing as scheduled.
Response from Tilburg University
‘The protest march had been announced to the university. PST has the right to demonstrate. We had made prior agreements about how the march would proceed. For instance, it was not allowed to disrupt education, research, or operations (including Night University).
‘We are disappointed that this still occurred and that it even led to the occupation of the Dante Building. As a result, not only did we have to cancel the program scheduled in Dante, but we were also forced to prematurely end the entire event.
This is a major blow to all colleagues who worked so hard for months on Night University. The university deeply regrets the events of last night.’
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