World · Europe · 1 hr ago
Maastricht University cancels Jewish student group’s lecture over safety concerns
Maastricht University canceled a planned lecture by a Jewish student group, saying it could not guarantee safety.
The event was organized by IJAR and StandWithUs, a pro-Israel organization, and was due to take place at a university building.
Lecturer Eli Sapir was set to speak about three years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Pro-Palestinian groups had said they would try to stop the event, and information about Sapir was shared online; StandWithUs then urged people to come to Maastricht.
The university said the opposing calls created too much uncertainty about safety and described the situation as a build-up of risks.
The organizers accused the university of giving in to intimidation and said it was the third time it had canceled an event by Jewish students.
The university offered an online meeting, but IJAR declined, and the lecture did not go ahead.
Maastricht University cancelled a lecture organised by Jewish student group IJAR and pro-Israel organisation StandWithUs, saying it could not guarantee safety.
The university said online calls from both supporters and opponents of the event created too much uncertainty.
Pro-Palestinian groups had announced plans to prevent the meeting, and StandWithUs later called for people to come to Maastricht.
The organisers said the university cancelled less than an hour before the lecture was due to begin.
IJAR and StandWithUs said the cancellation was the third time the university had cancelled an event by Jewish students.
- Who
- Maastricht University cancelled an event organised by Jewish student group IJAR and StandWithUs, a pro-Israel organisation. University lecturer Eli Sapir was due to speak.
- What
- A lecture titled “Three years after 7 October” was cancelled.
- When
- The university cancelled it the evening before the article was published. The organisers said they were told less than an hour before it was due to begin.
- Where
- A university building in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
- Why
- The university said online calls from opponents and supporters created too much uncertainty about safety.
Maastricht University
IJAR and StandWithUs
Reason for cancellation
Maastricht University
The university said online calls from both opponents and supporters created too much uncertainty to ensure the event was safe.
IJAR and StandWithUs
The organisers said the university “succumbs to intimidation.
Effect on campus
Maastricht University
The university said it had offered the student group the option of holding the event online.
IJAR and StandWithUs
The organisers called the cancellation the third time an event by Jewish students had been cancelled and said it showed “systematic suppression of Jewish student life on campus.
Pro-Palestinian groups announced plans to prevent the meeting, and information about the lecturer was shared online.
StandWithUs called on people to come to Maastricht.
Maastricht University cancelled the event, according to the report published the next day.
- Organisers
- IJAR and StandWithUs
- Scheduled speaker
- University lecturer Eli Sapir
- Lecture theme
- Three years after 7 October
- Cancellation
- The evening before the article was published on Nov. 4, 2026
- Organisers’ notice
- Less than an hour before the lecture was due to begin
What people are saying
a stacking of risks
a too great uncertainty about the safety of the meeting
succumbs to intimidation
We will not be silenced