With a loud demonstration on campus, around fifty students and staffmembers showed their support for Harry Pettit this afternoon. The Assistant Professor also personally addressed the crowd. ‘I had to explain why I had not violated the Code of Conduct. That is insane.'

In the early afternoon, about fifty protesters gather on the lawn next to the Maria Montessori building. Several journalists from regional and national media are also present. The activists include students, staff members, and people from outside the University. The whole gathering centers around one man today: Harry Pettit.

This afternoon’s protest is a support demonstration for outspoken pro-Palestinian activist and lecturer Harry Pettit. Pettit announced last Monday that he was leaving Radboud University, after being, in his own words, put under pressure to moderate his tone or face dismissal.

Dean of the Nijmegen School of Management Saskia Lavrijssen and President of the Executive Board Alexandra van Huffelen incidentally see the matter differently, they told Vox in an interview. ‘We have asked Pettit to abide by the Code of Conduct and made every effort to make that possible.’

Keffiyehs

With Palestinian flags, keffiyehs and two large banners bearing texts such as “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Death to the IOF”, the protest march heads towards the Berchmanianum, where the University’s Executive Board has offices, at around 12.30 p.m..

Several protesters are carrying printouts showing tweets by the social geographer. These include the much-talked about tweet in which Pettit called for ‘finishing what the Palestinians started on 7 October’, referring to the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. It is also one of the slogans that, alongside the well-known ‘Radboud, Radboud, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide’ and ‘Fuck Israel’, is chanted over and over this afternoon.

Having reached the administration building, several speakers, including the social geographer himself, take the floor. ‘I was in doubt whether to come,’ he begins. ‘It feels odd for me to be here despite having announced my departure myself.’

‘How is it that the University did not denounce the genocide in Gaza for two years?’

According to Pettit, it all started with a tweet in which he wrote ‘Fuck Israel’, which the University said crossed the line. ‘Later, there were many more tweets. Under the motto that, as scientists, we should disapprove of any form of violence. But if that is true, how come the University did not denounce the genocide in Gaza for two years? And how come the police on campus are cracking down with excessive force on students?’

Zionist lobby

Pettit also has something to say about the accusation that he allegedly breached Radboud University’s Code of Conduct for social media. ‘It was just a few people who decided that. And they were never able to properly explain to me which rules I had broken. In fact, I had to explain why I had not broken the rules. That is victim blaming, and it is insane.’

According to Pettit, the Executive Board has succumbed to the Zionist lobby. He cites pressure from media such as De Telegraaf, politicians, and the CIDI, among others. Also student and VVD councillor in Waalwijk Milos Boksan, who on behalf of a group of Jewish students and employees published several opinion pieces against the lecturer, is the target of Pettit’s speech. ‘He claims to speak on behalf of Jewish students – of whom nobody knows who or how many they are – and he has waged an internal campaign against me.’

Pettit’s speech is interrupted several times by loud cheers and shouts. At the end, he thanks those around him for their support over the past few months before closing once more with the words ‘free Palestine and fuck Israel’.

‘I wanted to invite a small delegation of activists to engage with the Executive Board’

A university spokesperson is thereupon eager to address the crowd, but the activists do not want to hand him the megaphone. ‘I wanted to invite a small delegation of activists to engage with the Executive Board’, the spokesperson tells Vox a little later. ‘On topics like freedom of speech, safety, the Code of Conduct and everything that has happened on campus recently. That invitation stands.’

After a few last ‘Fuck Israels’, the demonstration concludes and the group moves back from the lawn to the Maria Montessori building.