Professor of Political Science:“A clearer line is needed regarding student protests”
The students’ demands include an end to research collaborations with Israeli universities.
The universities need to follow a common and clear line towards students demonstrating in support of Palestine, according to Sten Widmalm, Professor of Political Science. “They have the right to protest, but when it comes to meeting their demands, I think a cautious approach is required.”
Student protests are currently taking place at several universities in Sweden. The students’ demands include an end to research collaborations with Israeli universities and the establishment of scholarships for Palestinian academics.
At several universities the protests have escalated, for example in Lund, where students disturbed a meeting of the municipal council, and at Linnaeus University, where a lecturer’s office was vandalised. Sten Widmalm finds the students’ actions problematic in several respects.
“They have the right to protest. But ever since 7 October, the pro-Palestine protests have involved antisemitic messages and there has been a sharp rise in hate crimes against Jews.”
Confronted
A week or so ago he personally encountered students at a tent camp in central Lund. While taking photos from a distance, he was confronted by a group of demonstrators.
“They said I had to have a permit to take pictures, but it’s a public place. So what they’re doing is restricting other people’s rights and freedoms. If you don’t want to be photographed, perhaps you shouldn’t be camping and putting up big signs in a university park.”
Researchers on student protests
We have interviewed two researchers about the pro-Palestinian student protests currently taking place at Uppsala University and other universities in Sweden and around the world. Why are students demonstrating specifically at universities? How should the University respond to their demands? Read more: Professor of Human Geography: “Academics have an important social responsibility”
Sten Widmalm thinks the universities ought to be more consistent in their reactions. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
The most serious aspect though, in his opinion, is the safety of academic staff.
“Activists in Lund have demanded a list of names of people at the university who collaborate with Israel, and of course that makes it a real security problem. Besides that, a lot of the signs and messages are of a kind that can be classified as authoritarian and threatening – for example, the formulation ‘Uppsala University your silence is complicity’.”
Follow a common line
As a professor of political science, Sten Widmalm naturally considers freedom of expression important, but he thinks the universities ought to be more consistent in their reactions.
“If this had been an extreme right-wing organisation, it would never have been handled in the same way. The approach to these kinds of phenomena is not sufficiently based on principles. I think this undermines the credibility of university managements, that they are unable to follow a common and intelligible line in these types of issues.”
One reason for this may be the strong support for the pro-Palestinian protests found among university employees as well. At Lund University 50 members of the academic staff jointly signed an opinion piece, writing primarily with reference to the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel that the students’ activism manifests a desire for “a deeper form of democracy”. And recently, 200 members of the academic staff at Uppsala University signed an open letter to the Vice-Chancellor to express their support for the protests.
“There is strong support among many who work here and that is probably one reason why the University is quite simply not doing much about those who are demonstrating. But the demonstrations have obviously created a place that is now felt to be very unsafe, particularly for people with a Jewish background,” Widmalm says.
“I think the elements of antisemitism are a serious matter. In my opinion, a very cautious approach is required towards meeting the demands of demonstrators at the universities. For example, when they demand lists of the names of people collaborating with Israel, or interrupt democratic meetings as happened in Lund municipality, then a significant line has been crossed.”
Protests worldwide
Right now, there are student protests in support of Palestine all over the world, just as students have always protested about different issues at their universities. One explanation for this is that the universities are important institutions in society, but the fact that academia is a haven for freedom of expression also plays a role. However, there are definite rules to play by, in Widmalm’s view.
“We must protect the right to demonstrate. However, those who are protesting in support of Palestinian victims and against the terrible war now going on between Hamas and Israel must also abide by the rules. This applies at universities and at street demonstrations alike. They must be free from antisemitic messages. And limiting other people’s freedom in the public space is not acceptable. This applies to all demonstrators – right-wing extremists as well as pro-Palestine demonstrators.”
Other opinions silenced
When it comes to the Israel–Palestine conflict, there is an explicit demand to pick sides – in social media around the world, for instance. With pro-Palestinian protests now receiving strong support at the universities, that may lead to other voices or opinions being silenced.
What consequences might this have for the universities?
“Well, it doesn’t promote a good culture of academic openness. Because it goes without saying that we researchers must be able to analyse these kinds of problems without becoming a party in the conflict. As university employees we should try to maintain our impartiality – particularly in a conflict that is as incredibly complicated as this. And people from a Jewish background, and all those who don’t agree with the demonstrators, must also be safe here,” Widmalm concludes.
Annica Hulth