“If we keep them silent, then they’ll resort to violence.
And that’s how we criminalise change.”~ Gandhi Mate, Gandhi by Enter Shikari
I see images from Paris and other French cities and can’t help but wonder if the flames of revolution could burn here, too. And if so, what part would Koornbeursers play? Let’s explore that.
Picture from The Sun
Delft, The Netherlands
October 23rd, 2026
An European wave of protests
I won’t pretend to know all the intricate reasons behind the French uprising. I am not French myself and don’t really have contacts over there. As such, my perspective may be skewed or plain misinformed. What I can gather from news reports, however, is that the French working class is fed up with Macron’s government’s actions, especially regarding its negligence towards public services such as education. This is not the interpretation some figures on the political right would want you to believe, though. They pin the “riots” and “destruction” on far-left anarchist groups (when have they ever been successful in mobilising the masses?) or on immigrants (BBC, 2026), the much-beloved scapegoat for those whose interests don’t serve the people. By doing so, they explicitly choose to ignore the people’s plight and often resort to legalist bullshit, please pardon my French.
Although I placed the words riots and destruction in quotation marks, I do acknowledge that a lot of property was damaged, stolen or otherwise interfered with. The centrist, legalist stance on that would be to condemn it like you would with any other crime, but I would like to distance myself from that. There is an important difference between what is wrong de jure and what is wrong morally, given the situation. On a day-to-day basis, capitalists, or the bourgeoisie if you want to be pretentious about it, are already inflicting massive damage to people by depriving them of the means to live a long and fulfilling life, all the while enriching themselves to the point of fighting over spots on meaningless lists of rich folks. Bourgeois-Proletarian aggressions like wage theft and worker exploitation are an integral part of Western capitalism and that’s not going to change soon. So please forgive the down-trodden people’s fighting spirit sometimes spilling over and causing damage where it’s not as useful for the cause, whatever that cause may be. Don’t just point to the damages and assert blindly that whoever was behind it didn’t have a justified reason to be upset.
In any case, as Paris and other French cities lick their wounds, Macron has announced a ban on “illegitimate protests” (The Guardian, 2026). While I’m not entirely surprised, given his history of clampdowns on nationwide protests, I am definitely disappointed. But also a bit giddy. See, the French really like to protest, as many of you will already know. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a flare-up of even more protests and aforementioned “riots” after Macron bans such actions, ironically. I look forward to more images of rich people’s shops being plundered or, even better, of that tourist train that got hijacked making a few more rounds through the city (Daily Star, 2026).
So, as we can see, France is in a state of upheaval. It didn’t take too long for the flames to reach Italy (AP News, 2026) and Belgium too (Reuters, 2026), which I of course applaud for many of the same reasons. Italy, being led by fascist Meloni (I’m not even going to elaborate on that one), has followed in France’s footsteps and has announced the deployment of hundreds of troops to Milan, among other places (The Guardian, 2026). Protests in Belgium, a country whose working class I envy for being so well integrated in public discourse, seems to have calmed down considerably after a handful of protests last week (Reuters et al., 2026). This is in stark contrast to the French and Italian knee-jerk reactions fanning the flames even more.
Intermezzo: My Political Origin Story
All this begs the question, though, when does the fire of revolution ignite the Dutch working class, and more specifically for the purposes of this article, members of the Koornbeurs? Why are we not taking to the streets like the Belgians, French and Italians did? When will we revolt? Let’s first briefly go back five years to when I did, and see how it shaped my view before we answer that question.
When I think of Dutch protests, I can’t help but think back on my own political history. After escaping the decidedly right-wing municipality of Westland and settling in marvellous Delft, I quickly turned to left-wing organisations for political fulfillment. I joined ROOD, the former youth wing of the Dutch Socialist Party that got excised from its mother party for being too radical (NOS, 2021) and after not too long, in collaboration with another Koornbeurser, founded ROOD Delft. Our small team didn’t manage to incite a revolution among the residents of Delft (you would’ve noticed if we did), but we did organise a few successful actions, such as raising funds for a local women’s shelter or confronting extorting landlords. Sadly, due to other time-consuming business such as studying and a general lack of left-wing activism among Delft students (which arguably DSI and now VSSD are rectifying), ROOD Delft quickly died out. During its short lifespan, though, I went to various protests, of which one is notable for raising revolutionary spirit in me and others.
Picture from Indebuurt
It was the now infamous Woonprotest in Rotterdam. What started as a peaceful and quiet protest march for affordable housing, turned into an outright skirmish between police and an anarchist bloc (and those who sympathised with them) on the Erasmusbrug (Rijnmond, 2026). If you take a good look at the news reports, you might even spot a pre-transition me shouting obscenities at the unnecessarily violent police officers. I think this was the first time that I was forced into a position against the rule of law. Something within me snapped as my political self, albeit nascent and still lacking ideological fundament, was put at odds with the government’s goon squads. After all, we were protesting peacefully in favour of affordable housing when the police suddenly decided to corner us on the bridge, hijack a tram and arrest fifty or so anarchists because, allegedly, some of them may have been carrying weapons. This, of course, was a ploy to beat down on those working class heroes speaking out against the government; barely a weapon was found and no excuses were ever made. For the curious few, a comprehensive “zwartboek” describing the outrageous police violence was made and can be found here.
Radical Apathy and Article 2
It’s been nearly five years and I still think back on this protest as it truly ignited a revolutionary passion in me. One that hasn’t burned out since. What surprises me then, is that in the wake of protests in other countries, the Dutch, and especially the Koornbeurs with its Article 2, have not taken to the streets yet. Aren’t our social securities also being hollowed out by neo-liberalism? Tens of thousands are homeless (CBS, 2024), interest on student loans has far exceeded the once promised 0% (BNNVARA, 2026), inflation is hollowing out our purchasing power (NOS, 2026); I could go on. Given these issues, it is baffling that the country that once had extensive protests and rioting in the 80’s (human, 2026) is now eerily quiet, even amidst multiple European nations’ citizens revolting against their own governments.
I think, at its core, it has to do with a certain radical apathy I perceive amongst my generation, including within the Koornbeurs itself.
You don’t need to try very hard these days to find posts from news outlets or individuals on social media outlining the various shortcomings of modern society. Tragedy is always a few clicks away. I therefore don’t believe we’re ignorant to the strife that many people, all around the world, endure for the sake of capitalism’s survival. More so, by being confronted with it continuously, we seem to have developed a selective blindness to it. It’s a boy-who-cried-wolf situation, where the wolf carries the name of capitalist greed and is very, very hungry. We all are, of course, claiming to be righteous for seeing through this, which makes it all the more surprising we don’t rally to action as a result.
Instead, many have grown apathetic towards societal injustice, including a lot of our own members. When talking to others about it, many suddenly place themselves in a paradox. They claim to be aware of the hardship people, including themselves, go through, yet don’t spring into action to combat it. Despite a resurrection and subsequent downfall of the Kritiki, both changes I had a hand in, I might add, article 2 of our Statuten (Het doel van de vereniging…) has been long abandoned in favour of blissful ignorance. We regularly cite article 2, but rarely is it actually put into practice. I realise this is a bold statement, so let me explain.
While we once had a few dozen of our members engage in direct action (deliberate attempts at improving the political situation), for example by occupying a government building as a response to higher education budget cuts (I can’t for the life of me find the video), we now seemingly have settled into a comfortable position of “slightly alt/left association”. A political discussion or two might happen over Mensa, but that’s about the extent to which Article 2 is put into practice. The world is burning and we’re just warming our hands by the fire, really. I’m risking being labelled as an oude lul here, but: where have the good old times gone?
Don’t construe my position as inciting political violence or suggesting riots are the answer to our problems, not at all. I’m just advocating for members to get out of their comfortable chairs and actually do something, and take others along for that action.
Conclusion
I don’t pretend to have a conclusive answer to this rise of radical apathy in the Koornbeurs. Some solace could be found in organising members to attend protests, which should happen as early as tomorrow at the Defend Delft counter-protest. I say “should”, as Koornbeursers are notorious for cancelling at the last minute, but I digress. Other avenues include (encouraging others into) joining organisations, whether student-oriented like VSSD or more politically inclined like various youth wings of political parties. Their actions include far more than just protesting, which really is just one way of engaging in political action. Whether any of this will be enough to turn the tide, I don’t know. I think any step away from apathy is a step in the right direction.
So if there is any take-away message from this article, it’s this:
Rise out of radical apathy and take to the streets, for if we don’t, the streets might be taken away from us, too.
~ Maya
You! Yes, you! You have opinions, surely. Drop them in the comments below or write something yourself and send it to us! You can reach us on redakkie@koornbeurs.nl
References
AP News. (2026, October 17). Rioters loot stores, set fires in central Milan during cost-of-living protest. AP News. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://apnews.com/article/italy-milan-riots-living-costs-aada57790a8d2d3c02ab55911b9ecead
BBC. (2026, October 21). France is divided over who to blame for weekend riots. BBC. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq0me4g9p970o
BNNVARA. (2026, Oct 7). Rente studieschuld: dit verandert er in 2027. BNNVARA. https://www.bnnvara.nl/artikelen/rente-studieschuld-hoe-zit-dat
CBS. (2024, Mar 26). 30,6 duizend dakloze mensen in Nederland. CBS. https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2024/13/30-6-duizend-dakloze-mensen-in-nederland#:~:text=Op%201%20januari%202023%20waren%20er%20naar%20schatting,is%20toegenomen%20ten%20opzichte%20van%20een%20jaar%20eerder.
Daily Star. (2026, Oct 19). Moment rioters hijack tourist train and crash it during France protest carnage. Daily Star. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/moment-rioters-hijack-tourist-train-37786874
The Guardian. (2026, Oct 22). Macron bans ‘illegitimate’ protests in France as he tries to get a grip on unrest. France, 1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/22/macron-ban-illegitimate-demonstrations-france-unrest
The Guardian. (2026, Oct 23). Milan braces for more unrest as debate intensifies over Italy’s ‘lost generation’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/23/milan-unrest-italy-lost-generation-protests
human. (2026, Aug 21). Ooggetuigen: 1980 – het jaar dat de krakersrellen losbarstten. human. https://www.human.nl/de-publieke-tribune/artikelen/ooggetuigen-1980-het-jaar-dat-de-krakersrellen-losbarstten
NOS. (2021, Jun 26). SP breekt met communistische jongerentak wegens ‘onoverbrugbare kloof’. NOS. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://nos.nl/artikel/2386721-sp-breekt-met-communistische-jongerentak-wegens-onoverbrugbare-kloof
NOS. (2026, Sep 2). De inflatie in Nederland blijft hoger dan in de rest van Europa, hoe komt dat? NOS. https://nos.nl/artikel/2580918-de-inflatie-in-nederland-blijft-hoger-dan-in-de-rest-van-europa-hoe-komt-dat
Reuters, Van Campenhout, C., Bayer, L., & Potter, M. (2026, October 17). Protesters clash with police in Brussels. Reuters. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://www.reuters.com/world/protesters-clash-with-police-brussels-2026-10-17/
Rijnmond. (2026, Oct 17). Lees alles terug over het Woonprotest in Rotterdam – acht arrestaties en groep van 50 demonstranten met tram afgevoerd door politie. Rijnmond. https://www.rijnmond.nl/nieuws/1418573/lees-alles-terug-over-het-woonprotest-in-rotterdam-acht-arrestaties-en-groep-van-50-demonstranten-met-tram-afgevoerd-door-politie