A recent report by the Taskforce on Combating Antisemitism shows that Jewish students and staff feel increasingly unsafe on campus. The many pro-Palestinian protests are sometimes accompanied by antisemitic chants. Some students are being insulted. They feel excluded and sometimes even hide the fact that they are Jewish.

In addition to the regular budget institutions have to ensure social safety on campus, the government is therefore making an additional €350,000 available for initiatives supporting Jewish students and staff.

Shortcomings

However, how educational institutions should address rising antisemitism remains a subject of debate, including in politics. During a parliamentary debate on the taskforce’s recommendations, Minister of Education Rianne Letschert, who was also a member of the taskforce, acknowledged that institutions have fallen short. Administrators have “had to go through a fairly steep learning curve” and are “not quite there yet,” she said.

But Letschert herself also came under fire. In particular, right-wing parties argued that during her time as head of the University of Maastricht she did not intervene sufficiently during pro-Palestinian protests. They therefore consider it inappropriate that she is now responsible for implementing the report’s recommendations.

“I also had to learn that myself,” Letschert responded. At the same time, she emphasized that she speaks “as Minister of Education, Culture and Science and not as the former administrator of the University of Maastricht.” She pledged to do her best “to ensure, together with the education sector, that we comply with and implement these recommendations.”

Guidance

In addition to the €350,000, guidance documents will be introduced on “recognizing and dealing with antisemitism” for confidential advisers, teachers, and administrators. Institutions can also take their own measures against students who misbehave, for example by issuing a campus ban or, in extreme cases, expelling them from their program.

“It is up to educational institutions to put compliance with these recommendations on the agenda within their own communities,” Letschert said. She also stressed the importance of “carefully examining together where we stand now and whether we are doing what is being recommended here.”

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor