Maastricht University is Europe’s Columbia for Antisemitism
- Julio Levit Koldorf
- Jul 25
- 1 min read
— The Jerusalem Post
Maastricht University (UM) in the Netherlands is described as the "European Columbia" due to its severe issue with institutionalized antisemitism and hostile campus environment for Jewish students following the October 7, 2023, attacks. The author cites a specific incident on March 12, 2025, where a civil dialogue event with a Syrian peace activist was violently sieged by the "Free Palestine Maastricht" group, despite authorities denying permission for the protest. The demonstrators, using slogans like "Intifada" and "From the river to the sea," surrounded the building, intimidating Jewish attendees with what the author describes as the "psychological terror of a pogrom," leading the police to shut down the event and escort the Jewish attendees out while the aggressors remained untouched. UM further demonstrated a lack of institutional integrity by canceling a subsequent talk with activist Shabbos Kestenbaum to make way for a pro-Palestinian event promoted by the same group. The author condemns UM for its clear violation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, specifically highlighting the university's controversial posting of a publicly funded PhD position on "Palestine Solidarity" with a monthly salary of €3,539, which the article claims promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and equates Palestinian terrorism with liberation, thus disguising an ideological mission as scholarship.