Speaking at the event, a spokesperson for Maastricht University claims recent health problems have slowed down the access to all “external loudspeakers” on” Gaza/Israel.”
A university in the Netherlands halted a lesson by Shabbos Kestenbaum, a scholar advocate for U.S. Jews, and made room for another event featuring a Arab photojournalist.
A part of the Dutch Union of Jewish Kids told The College Fix via phone on Wednesday that it” shows dishonesty and taking factors.”
A 2024 student of Harvard University, Kestenbaum, was scheduled to speak Monday at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. He just settled with Harvard over alleged inaction against the school’s Israeli individuals.
However, the school next month informed the Israeli student union that the lecture had to be postponed. A school director defended the decision, citing a new legislation that limits events to” Gaza/Israel” due to safety concerns.
However, Jewish scholar officials criticized the school for using double standards. They pointed to Mohammed Alzanoon, a pro-Palestinian journalist, who spoke about his views in Gaza on Wednesday during a lecture on school.
According to Kestenbaum,” The scheme was just put in place for our event.”
On Tuesday, Kestenbaum gave his lesson at an alternate location off campus, according to the Hebrew student union. However, the kids continue to be upset with the school.
A representative from the Jewish student union told The Fix that” the universities have been lying to their students for long and they have consistently disregarded the safety standards of their Jewish community.”
COWARDS:
I was given permission to speak at the University of Maastricht next year by the Dutch Union of Jewish Kids.
The kids just recently informed me that the University had abruptly canceled the lecture due to” security problems.”
I’ve made an offer to provide safety for myself at no… twitter.com/ UnORDq9ZSU
— Shabbos Kestenbaum ( @ShabbosK ) May 14, 2025
The occasion was portion of a month-long series of talks at universities across the nation, led by the Dutch Union of Jewish Kids.
However, Maastricht University informed the students last week that their event had been postponed due to” safety issues,” according to union members. Due to their fears of being targeted, the pupils requested not to be named.
The lesson was postponed until May 13th, six days before the event. A Israeli leader told The Fix in a statement via email on behalf of the coalition that the reason for choosing this time was that on May 12th, pro-Palestine businesses hosted a Palestinian Arts &, Culture event with exterior listeners. According to the organizers, the withdrawal occurred a moment after their function and theirs was permitted to continue.
Another student claimed that the May 12 pro-Palestinian event had have” completely violated” the school’s new scheme.
The fact that they informed us [one day after that event would have occurred now demonstrates dishonesty and taking sides,” the pupil claimed via phone.
In addition, the Jewish students claimed that the college permitted Mohammed Alzanoon’s photojournalist’s discussion on Wednesday.
The school spokesperson confirmed to The Fix that the event was permitted because Alzanoon is a “UM speech and not an “external speech” and receives funding from Maastricht University.
Further: Questions linger after Salman Rushdie bows out of a graduate speech at a center-right school.
The new plan, which was released on May 15, addresses current issues with pro-Palestinian protesters, including an occasion that was held by the Israeli pupil union in March that “ended quick” due to safety concerns.
Pro-Palestinian activists “blocked” doors to the school Faculty of Law developing on Tuesday night, according to a statement posted on the university’s website. The school claimed that the building was “fully available again” by the afternoon.
The policy states that “UM has decided to exercise unique caution in the approaching time when it comes to allowing and/or facilitating activities with a powerful political figure and with external listeners relating to the situation in Gaza/Israel.”
According to the new plan, administrators will take center use requests into account on a case-by-case basis.
We regret dread having to make this preliminary policy available for the application for a lecture by Mr. Kestenbaum, according to university spokesman Koen Augustijn in an email on Tuesday.
The Fix spoke with Israeli student leaders who acknowledged reasonable safety concerns.
According to one head,” we had hosted Rawan Osman on campus on March 12th, and student organizations like Free Palestine Maastricht and Erev Rav sparked quite a noise that we were ordered to close the event early because” the crowd inside was getting out of control,” one president wrote via email.
The university made the decision never to punish the culprits, but rather the victims, who knew that we would not cause them any harm or persecutive injury. Instead of defending the safety and liberties of their Israeli student community, the college “decided to give into violence.”
In response to this, Kestenbaum criticized Maastricht’s leader, Rianne Letschert, for failing to put an end to the “violence and abuse” directed at Israeli students, branding her an “embarrassment” to both her country and higher learning.
He told The Fix in a text message on Tuesday that he had spoken with the university’s Israeli student body, and their views were shocking.
Letschert should step down from her place on the national hatred commission, according to Kestenbaum.
Instead of denying Jewish students ‘ free speech, he said,” The university should grow a spine and punish the perpetrators.”
This be clear, he told The Fix,” Israeli kids follow the rules.” We do not obstruct seminars, call for death threats, or raise fire alarms. The same cannot be said about the opposing viewpoint. Why should we be punished for using their anti-democratic and authoritarian tactics?
Further: The University of Maryland has no intentions to pass a student withdrawal bill that targets Israel and America.
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Shabbos Kestenbaum, a pupil advocate for Jews. Having a YouTube channel calledL’chaim
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