Swearing and ranting pro-Palestinian activists disrupt NATO admiral's performance at university

Modified: 49 min agoYesterday, 11:18 PMinland?
AMSTERDAM - A group of activists rudely disrupted a discussion meeting at the UvA with Dutch NATO Admiral Rob Bauer on Tuesday afternoon. Because they did not stop chanting texts such as ' Free, free Palestine ' and ' Fuck NATO ', the interview with the CEO had to be canceled. This is much to Bauer's regret.

Student organization Room for Discussion proudly announced the interview with Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, on its website. The meeting would discuss, among other things, 'a war-ready society' and the situation in Ukraine.

It never came to a real discussion, because five minutes after the start, activists from the action group Room for Disruption, who were supposed to be studying at the University of Amsterdam, started their protest. They shouted slogans such as 'NATO shame, blood on your hands' and ' NATO killers fuck off '. A spokesperson for organizer Room for Discussion said that the demonstrators also handed out flyers "discussing Bauer's military past and NATO's role in Ukraine and Palestine."

Conversation with activists is not possible
“The aim of the activists was clear: to prevent the session from taking place,” his spokeswoman Leonoor Russell said on Tuesday evening. It is unclear to Bauer exactly what the reason for the protest is: NATO plays no role in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “A military uniform and the theme of collective defense apparently evokes many emotions and reactions. And that in itself is fine. He started the conversation with love.”

The student committee, which organizes meetings in the hall of the city campus on Roeterseiland, is also disappointed. “We think it is a great shame that we have lost the opportunity to have important, critical public discussions,” the students say on X.

A conversation with the activists afterwards yielded no results. “They said it is impossible for them not to disrupt interviews with guests they disagree with.”

"The king is dead, long live the king!"