Utrecht’s University of Applied Sciences is postponing a lecture series on the Holocaust, causing uproar in the Netherlands.
The timing of the announcement only made matters worse: Holocaust Memorial Day, the annual observance to commemorate the victims of the genocide that claimed the lives of an estimated six million Jews.
The eight-part lecture series, in collaboration with the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), was supposed to start on February 7th, and is designed to combat a “growing antisemitism in Dutch society.”
A spokesman explained to De Telegraaf that the university wanted to “facilitate a diverse and balanced dialogue around this issue,” and that for this, it would “need more time to put the events of October 7th [when Hamas militants massacred over 1,200 civilians and soldiers in Israel] and beyond into broader perspective, with room for diverse opinions and beliefs.”
Did the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences arrive at its decision independently? It is accused of being influenced—even guided—by the pro-Palestinian activist group New Neighbors Utrecht, according to De Telegraaf.
On its official Instagram page, that group—while not mentioning any direct involvement—merely noted that “speaking out works.” Its sympathizers were more enthusiastic: “A nice victory,” “outrageous that they wanted to hold this lecture series at all” and “I saw that a Holocaust survivor is coming as a speaker. Bizarre,” were typical of some of the reactions.
Earlier, the college had noted that such a discussion was increasingly necessary, with teachers warning that “some young people trivialize, deny or justify the Holocaust, often on the basis of the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Perceptions of Israel’s response to the Hamas pogrom on October 7th will only “reinforce these tendencies,” they fear.
The university has rejected the accusation that New Neighbors Utrecht in any way steered its final decision.
In a statement published on January 28th, the university said that, despite earlier unsubstantiated reports that the lecture series had been summarily scrapped, it was merely postponed. The institute also mentioned that “the safety of speakers, students, teachers and visitors cannot be guaranteed” should it go ahead as planned.
Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) lambasted the university’s intention to bring more ‘nuance’ to the topic.
Seriously? A ‘diverse and balanced dialogue’ about the persecution of Jews?! Six million Jews have been murdered because of who they are. Six million lives were brutally destroyed because of pure Jew hatred. Anyone who wants to bring nuance to that needs a history lesson. The nerve.
Lecturer Lotte Bergen, who was to give the fifth lecture on concentration camps, suspects sinister motives. “It even seems antisemitic to me,” she told De Telegraaf. “If you allow history lessons to be dictated by current events in this way, something is completely wrong. This is about a series of lectures on the Holocaust between 1933 and 1945, the history of which is more important than ever to teach. And then a committee decides: ‘We are not going to do that for a while, it is too complicated for us.’”
What is taught should not be determined by administrative committees or groups of activists, Bergen added.
Chanan Hertzberger, chairman of the Jewish advocacy group Central Jewish Consultation, also called it unacceptable that the lecture series will not go ahead as planned. “It is baffling that Hogeschool Utrecht establishes such a relationship [between the Holocaust and Israel’s actions after the October 7th massacre] at all. Here there is no longer a dysfunctional moral compass. Rather, there seems to be a malicious mind.”
“That the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences came up with this announcement a day before International Holocaust Memorial Day and the national commemoration of the Holocaust makes this situation all the more painful,” he added, concluding that it was “disgraceful that the Board of Directors of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences can no longer be counted upon as being among those willing to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.”
The university does not appear to recognize the gravity of the situation; according to a spokesperson, it would be useful to see if “new social perspectives can be included in a follow-up”—presumably in response to the “malicious” campaigning that the college won’t name, despite citing a threat to staff safety.
