The nationwide protest against a 1 billion cut in the 2025 Dutch budget for higher education and research, originally scheduled in Utrecht this Thursday 14th of November, was cancelled by the municipality on Wednesday afternoon. This demonstration was organised by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) and Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb), and supported by other entities such as WOinActie. Universities across the Netherlands had encouraged students and staff members to participate and some, such as Maastricht University, had provided transport to Utrecht for that purpose.
In a letter addressed to the city council of Utrecht, Mayor Dijksma advised the organisers to cancel the protest “because the safety of the protesters [could not] be sufficiently guaranteed”. This belief stems from information received allegedly proving “that a pro-Palestine organisation intends to hijack the demonstration.” Reactions surrounding this decision, which was given with a notice of fewer than 24 hours, were conflicted: indeed, it occurred after a weekend of tense pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Amsterdam, with images and accusations of police violence against protesters. They view the statement from the municipality as an attempt at “fearmongering”, as well as a pretext to further undermine the right to protest in the Netherlands, and to demonise pro-Palestinian organisations. Their protests and student encampments, often met with violence from the police, have sparked controversy from Dutch universities and governmental entities for over a year now.
Organisations such as the Dutch student union LSVb decided to carry on the protest regardless, but multiple universities in the Netherlands discouraged their students from doing so for the safety reasons mentioned by the municipality.
"We think it's terrible that all those students, teachers, and staff who wanted to take action tomorrow can't make their voices heard now," organisers FNV and AOb said in a press release. “The right to demonstrate is a fundamental right that should not be taken lightly,” argues WOinActie after qualifying the municipality’s decision as “incomprehensible”.
In Maastricht, UM staff and students peacefully reunited in Vrijthof for an hour, to read speeches on the importance of publicly funded and accessible education for students and Dutch society as a whole, as well as to raise their concern over the protection of the right to protest in the Netherlands. “I think it is kind of a pity because [...] it was going to be a peaceful protest, it was for education,” a UM student told the Diplomat during the replacement protest on Vrijthof.
Some people also found a more creative way of continuing the movement, such as Kate Maguire-Rosier, Assistant Professor of Disability Studies and the Arts, and her dog Pumba, who you could find outside of the FASoS faculty with the following message: “Funding education: very mindful, very demure” — a reference to a recent TikTok trend as a way to “poke fun at higher education in an effort to show that we are anti-elitist.”
Although the budget cut is a major concern for everyone, not all members of the university share the same sentiment about the decision to cancel the protest: “I understand the reasoning from the municipality, I think if you can’t ensure and guarantee the safety of people and you think it’s going to actually escalate into something else, I see the point of cancelling it”, comments a UM tutor. They also point out that “there are many other ways to [...] influence policy than engaging in protests”. For example, a petition is currently being spread to continue the action taken by students and teachers against the budget cuts.
In spite of the cancellation and the reasons given, which have been controversial to many and raised wider concerns to some about the protection of the right to protest in the Netherlands, the fight against budget cuts in higher education and research continues: a new national demonstration is set to occur on Monday, November 25th in the Hague, as announced by the educational organisations yesterday.
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