The goal of the protesters today was to inform the OAY guests of TU/e’s ties to Israel and to make the presence of ‘Eindhoven Students 4 Palestine’ seen and heard.

For their first goal, flyers were handed out, as the people that had come for Wopke Hoekstra, Heleen de Coninck and Ingrid Thijssen didn’t take the time to go into profound discussions.

The second goal was definitely achieved: the activists were clearly noticeable thanks to their flags and Palestine scarves, and a banner was hung from the balustrade. The chanting noises were also briefly audible in the Blauwe Zaal. This prompted Wopke Hoekstra to say he felt like he was working from home and was hearing his kids in the background.

The protest was a very peaceful affair. Speaking in a personal capacity, the spokesperson for the collective said that the contact with the TU/e security department is improving. “I feel like they’re getting to know us. They give us a bit more space and that reduces the chance of commotion.” The students complied with the requests to leave after ten minutes. “We could have appealed to our right of protest to enter the Blauwe Zaal,” said the spokesperson, “but that wasn’t our goal for today.”

Hay Becks, team leader at TU/e Safety & Security, isn’t dissatisfied with the protest. “We gave them a platform and allowed them to hand out flyers for five minutes. Nobody benefits from pushing and shoving. This was better.”

One of the protesters was Alice Haverkorn, alumna at Applied Physics. “Back in the day, we were taught to take responsibility for what you make. In 1984, I was part of a group of students who tried to get fellow students at all university departments to take an oath upon their graduation not to use the knowledge they acquired for weapons. I know TU/e is currently teaching ethics as well. I think the Executive Board is setting the wrong example by not seriously addressing our protest. But I’m still happy we got to hand out flyers.”