Schriftelijke bijdrage Victor Brandon

Beste Raadscommissie, As one of approximately 15,000 Jews in the entirety of Amsterdam, I feel the responsibility to write to you today and express my sincerest disgust with the recent police violence against student protestors in our city. I am tired of my voice being co-opted. On Monday, a group of hooligans—many if not all of whom were not Jewish—attacked a group of peaceful protestors on my campus. These people were not speaking for me, were not fighting antisemitism, were not doing anything except seeking violence against students like myself. The lack of response from both the university and the police spoke volumes. Now, contrast this with the response to student protests over the last few days. I have talked to classmates who have been aggressively pushed, chased, and beaten by the riot police for doing nothing but peacefully protesting. In their response, the university cited the israeli flag being burned, and politicians in the Netherlands continue to portray these protests as Anti-Semitic. Let me be crystal clear: as someone who has faced Anti-Semitism for 20+ years, these protests are—by and large—not Anti-Semitic. In addition, the burning of the Israeli flag is not Anti-Semitic, but a peaceful protest against a government and regime that has murdered more than 33,000 people in this war, the majority of whom are women or children.

I will not let local and national politicians claim that they are protecting me by brutalizing my fellow students—students who are peacefully protesting a genocide in the middle east. Members of the raadscommissie, I implore you to stop the brutalization of student protestors in our city. The vast vast majority of students are peacefully protesting, and do not deserve the harrowing violence that they are currently facing. Best, BV