It is very clear that there are a lot of emotions and many different opinions among students and staff. We can all agree about one thing though: the war in Gaza is terrible and its consequences are disastrous.

The war in Gaza deeply affects us al land we understand the feelings of anger and powerlessness. This week those feelings manifested in demonstrations, unfortunately in a way that required police intervention. And that led to new anger and incomprehension about that intervention. How can we break this vicious cycle? 

It is essential that despite these tensions, we continue to engage in dialogue about the dilemmas surrounding the war, and remain open to each other's concerns, anger, and feelings of powerlessness. The board feels a great responsibility to provide a safe environment for this. Especially now, it is of paramount importance that as an academic community, we collectively uphold our values: listening, providing freedom to ask questions and be critical, or to have no opinion at all, wanting to learn and debate – with attention to everyone's input, background, and beliefs, free from intimidation and intolerance.

In addition to the big questions, there are also small questions: it is clear that students and staff have questions about the events of this week and their consequences. There are also practical questions: what about the opening hours of the buildings? Is it safe for me to go to campus? Will my classes continue as scheduled? Who can I turn to with practical questions or problems I encounter?

The advice to staff at this time is to discuss concerns and questions with your supervisor initially, even though in many cases they may not yet have all the details. For students, the advice is to keep an eye on the information channels of their programme.

UvA buildings closed until Monday 

All UvA buildings, including the University Library, will remain closed until Monday, 13 May. There is currently no information regarding the accessibility of the educational buildings at the Oudemanhuispoort. Information regarding the continuation of classes will be provided as soon as more clarity is available.

We will do our utmost to keep everyone well informed in the coming days.

On this pageExternal link you will find an overview of the news and other relevant information about these incidents.