On December 3, demonstrators from Eindhoven Students 4 Palestine (ES4P) staged a protest in the central hall of Atlas, directly below the TU/e Executive Board office. They did so to draw attention to the involvement of an Israeli army commander in the Horizon project REACT, in which TU/e is participating.

The atmosphere of the protest shifted when some of the demonstrators forced the door to the Executive Board office and entered the room. According to TU/e, one of the demonstrators subsequently caused damage there.

The activist refused to leave and was arrested by the police. The university filed a police report against him and banned him from campus for one year. The man in question is not a TU/e student or staff member.

External researcher

TU/e then launched an investigation into other individuals involved in the incident. Another demonstrator was found to have previously violated the university’s house rules, according to a TU/e spokesperson.

As a result, he was also given a one-year campus ban. In addition, his hospitality agreement was revoked, which had granted him access to TU/e systems and campus facilities.

This activist is not a TU/e student or staff member, but he did require the hospitality agreement for his work as a researcher at another organization. According to an ES4P spokesperson, the demonstrator has now lost his job because of this.

The activist group strongly criticizes the campus bans. The activists see those as an attempt to silence them. TU/e states that demonstrations “remain welcome,” but adds that it will enforce its house rules more strictly if they are violated.

Executive Board office

According to ES4P, the university has provided no evidence that damage was caused to the door or interior of the Executive Board office, nor by whom the damage was inflicted.

The university says it cannot share security footage due to privacy regulations. A TU/e spokesperson does state, however, that the damage in the Executive Board office occurred because the demonstrator in question resisted security staff.

Public apologies

The activist group is demanding public apologies from TU/e for the use of force by the security staff. In addition, it is calling for the entire Executive Board to step down.

Asked whether the imposed campus bans will have any impact on future actions, the ES4P spokesperson responds firmly: “The university may try to suppress individual voices, but it cannot silence the Palestinian movement.” The group says it will continue its actions in 2026.

Update January 9, 2026, 14:08: An earlier version of this article stated in the headline that the protester lost his job as a result of the campus ban. This suggests that it is a fact. However, Cursor has only been able to verify this statement with the action group itself. Further on in the article, this is stated correctly.

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