The atmosphere is upbeat. The students have set up a stage in a park near Utrecht Central Station. More and more students are joining the demonstration, but there are also young researchers and older teachers.
A Hungarian postdoc is also participating. In his own country, freedom has been severely curtailed and the Hungarian leader Orban is an example for Wilders. ’It happened in small steps,’ he says, ‘and it can happen here too.’
Others seem concerned about that too. There are all kinds of well-known slogans ('Fight, fight, fight, education is a right!'), but this time something is added: the right to demonstrate. 'This is what democracy looks like!', they say, and also: 'The people united will never be defeated!'
No understanding
No one here understands the decision of the trade unions to cancel the protest in Utrecht because of possible violence by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. From whom does the violence actually come, they wonder, isn't it rather from the police who disperse demonstrations and from Israel itself? 'Free, free Palestine!', they say. Others hold up protest signs with texts such as 'No bombs but books'.
At the very least, the unions should have forced the mayor to make a decision, they believe. Let her issue the ban. The trade unions themselves should not participate in 'anti-democratic tactics'. Someone from the FNV members' parliament says outright sorry on stage.
Class struggle
Cut back on education and spend billions on the military? This is met with incomprehension. The Communist youth, also members of the party, believe that the government is only on the side of capital. ‘Student struggle is class struggle!’
Abdelkader Karbache, chairman of the National Student Union, is in the audience. Those rioters the municipality was afraid of? 'They didn't come from the academic community,' he says. 'And apparently, it's suddenly safe enough now.'
Then Karbache steps onto the stage. He is proud of everyone who came, he says. Ridiculous that it was cancelled because of the threat of violence. 'Then you can never demonstrate again and we won't accept that.' To make a change, you need the student unions, he says. 'If you want to make a difference in the Netherlands, become a goddamn member of a student union!' He gets loud applause.
Mars
The crowd sets in motion for a march through Utrecht. It's happening peacefully. And slowly. Initially, the procession hardly moves forward. The demonstrators will make a tour through the center, past the Dom, and then they will return to the park. The first demonstrators call it a day, but many continue to chant as if they have only just arrived.
