Radboud University Nijmegen should report a fiercely pro-Palestinian lecturer to the police, according to outgoing minister Gouke Moes (BBB). He is threatening to intervene. “I pointed out an agreement that was made with the universities,” Moes said Friday evening on the TV program Café Kockelmann.
In the event of suspected criminal offenses, the universities will file a report, as they have agreed in a joint guideline. And Moes suspects criminal offenses. Regarding the pro-Palestinian protests in Nijmegen, Harry Pettit, a university lecturer in social geography, tweeted that it is time to finish “what the Palestinians started on Oct. 7.” He believes that Israeli citizens were murdered by their own military on October 7, 2023.
Sacred
Freedom of expression and academic freedom are sacred, Moes said on the talk show. “You can’t touch that.” But, he added, the line is crossed when it comes to inciting violence or glorifying violence.
A complaint has already been filed against Pettit by the pro-Israel center CIDI, but Moes expects the university to do the same. He is threatening to take steps on the “escalation ladder.” Moes: “Ultimately, I am the guardian of the system and I am responsible for it.”
In the daily newspaper AD, Pettit calls it “insane” that the minister is interfering. He says he is not inciting violence and is not afraid of reports to the police. He does, however, consider the armed resistance of the Palestinians to be justified. (HOP, BB)
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