Minister on student protests and police: It is only fair that management sets limits

In recent weeks the student association Students Against the Occupation has demonstrated for an academic boycott of Israel.

It all started on 26 November when students tried to set up an indoor tent camp on South Campus. This was shut down with the help of the police shortly afterwards.

READ ALSO: No more patience from UCPH management: These students may no longer demonstrate

The message from management was that »the University of Copenhagen no longer has patience with actions relating to Israel and Palestine, and that affect other parts of the university population.«

A week followed where the students, according to their own statement, did not set up a tent camp, but were simply present on campus with a number of pro-Palestinian banners and flags and had taken off their shoes to signal that the protest was peaceful.

READ ALSO: No more tent camps and sock protests: Students against the Occupation evicted by the police

On 3 December, the students’ action was cleared by the police. According to management, this is because the students had been violating the university’s code of conduct for a long period of time. The students disagree and believe that management is curbing their freedom of expression.

The University Post has asked Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund (Moderate Party) to comment on the specific events at UCPH and to elaborate on the anti-harassment policy that is under way at universities.

Supports the management

What do you think about UCPH management shutting down certain student demonstrations, citing a limit to their patience that somehow has been exhausted?

»I fully support UCPH management and its handling of this situation. Of course, everyone has the right to demonstrate and express their opinions freely. And that’s how it should be. But it must be done within the code of conduct. And if UCPH find that the students are not following the rules, they must act accordingly. And I can understand that patience can wear thin if you find yourself repeatedly seeking dialogue, but that the students – in this case Students Against the Occupation – are not listening,« says Christina Egelund.

You have to be able to speak. This must, however, be done within reasonable limits

Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund

Management said the protests could not be seen in isolation from months of disruptions to the inner life of the university. Do you support this claim?

»Yes, I do. I think that UCPH management has been patient for a long time, and I believe that this is how it should be. In my view, the university should basically be a place for free debate, where people can express their opinions. But this must always be done in balance with the daily life at the university, which also has to function for both employees and students.

»And if you have a group that, over a longer period of time, continues to insist on the same thing, and which, as I understand it, also violates the university’s code of conduct, then I can understand that patience runs out,« says the minister.

Is this discrimination?

The patience threshold has been higher in the past at the University of Copenhagen. During the humanities blockade in 2019, for example, students occupied the university for a month, round-the-clock, and without police involvement. Is there anything in these pro-Palestinian demonstrations on UCPH that in your view differs from this blockade?

»I think the example you’re referring to emphasizes the ideal very well – or at least what we want to strive for: The university should have a wide tolerance and space for people’s ideas. You have to be able to speak This needs to be set between reasonable limits however.

»UCPH allowed a lot of space and leeway at the time, and I think they have done the same in this case. I know that for a long time dialogue was sought with Students against the Occupation. I myself visited them in the spring with the rector when they had set up tent camps at City Campus – in a welcoming manner and seeking dialogue.«

»It was a very nice visit, but it is clear that daily life should also be able to work. I’m not involved in all the events at UCPH, but if the management thought it was necessary to call in the police several times, then I think it’s reasonable to draw a line in the sand at some point.«

Why the police?

The students have criticized the fact that the police have been called in to remove a small group of student activists who were neither masked, noisy nor otherwise bothering others, but who had merely sat on campus with pro-Palestinian banners. What do you think about that?

»I agree that it is intense that the police have to intervene. But UCPH management apparently assessed that it was necessary in the given situations. On a general level, I would like to say that it is unfortunately not only the University of Copenhagen that has had to call in the police over the past year,« she says.

As a student at a Danish university, you must be able to attend without being met by harassing behaviour. No matter what case or position it is based on

Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund

»This has also happened at other educational institutions, where it has been necessary to impose and enforce the rules of conduct in a relatively strict way. I do not have the impression that UCPH is normative in terms of which demonstrators they have more patience with than others. I think it’s more about behaviour than content.«

At the University Post, we have spoken to a philosopher of law who finds it problematic that there is a discrimination between student activists on the basis of their political content – and that pro-Palestinian student activists should be protected by freedom of expression and assembly on an equal footing with everyone else. Do you agree with that?

»I agree that the university should be a place where everyone can have their say and where people can express their opinions. But you also have a responsibility to do so within the rules of conduct that apply – and this is completely separate from the issue of which view it is that you are trying to promote,« says Egelund.

»Managements have on the one hand a responsibility to ensure that there is space for an open and free debate at the university. Even when there are things in society that are difficult to talk about. On the other hand, they have a responsibility to ensure that there is a good daily life for students and staff. This is what managements in higher education institutions throughout the Western world are attempting to balance in these years. And during a fierce, polarizing time,« she says and adds:

»And I think that management at UCPH has found the balance in that field of tension in a very convincing way.«

Restrictions on freedom of expression

At a parliamentary consultation on 3 December, you said that you have moved your position on the issue of freedom of expression. Can you elaborate – and where is the limit?

»This is what is so incredibly difficult. When I first had to take a stand on this issue as minister, where there had been specific situations with relatively intense happenings for some students, my own starting point was that as long as speech is within the framework of the law, it was also feasible at the university,« she says and continues:

»Then I encountered various specific situations, for example at the Faculty of Law at UCPH, where someone had drawn a swastika on a blackboard. It is within the framework of the law, as the swastika symbol is not banned in Denmark. But does that mean you have to accept it in a classroom, or that I would accept it on a whiteboard at the Ministry of Higher Education and Science for that matter? No, I wouldn’t. Because you also have a responsibility to ensure that daily communities function in a proper way. And this, as I see it, does not include swastikas.«

»It set off a good deal of reflection in me on where exactly the line is. And whether you can set up a formula in black-and-white, because it’s relatively complicated. It is a field of tension between, on the one hand, rewarding a free debate and safeguarding the viewpoints with which you disagree. And on the other hand, taking responsibility for ensuring that the minority groups that attend or work at the universities can have a space that is free of politics, and free from having to endure statements which to some can seem incredibly harsh.«

Anti-harassment policy on the way

At the consultation, you said that an anti-harassment policy is to be introduced to universities. Is it aimed specifically at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, or should it be understood in a wider sense?

»It needs definitely to be seen in a wider sense. At the moment, it is this conflict that is the focal point of some of these principles, but an anti-harassment policy is of course more general. As a student at a Danish university, you must be able to attend without being met by harassing behaviour. No matter what case, or what position it is based on.«

Can you give some examples of what it is that would violate the new anti-harassment policy?

»For example, when there is vandalism at Roskilde University, where graffiti states that Zionists should be scared. I think that’s off the mark.«

Will a group of students with ‘Free Palestine’ banners and Palestinian flags be in conflict with the new policy?

»No, I certainly don’t think so. It is a balancing act, but the starting point is, of course, that we live in a country with a beautiful and proud tradition for a relatively extensive freedom of expression. This is one of the focal points for our democratic conversation and an informed debate. This is hugely important, and here the universities play a central role,« she says and adds:

»But it has to be done in a way that isn’t intimidating or harassing to, in this case, students. We have to navigate this field of tension.«