Resisting non-performative institutional speech acts and silence mechanisms in Dutch University Medical Centers: An Ethnographic Study of Advocacy for Palestine

This thesis investigates how health workers at Dutch university medical centers (UMCs) resist non-performative institutional speech acts and silence mechanisms as an intertwined mechanism of suppression of speech. The Erasmus Medical Workers Palestine Advocates-Team (EMPA-T) group forms the front line of this resistance in one the UMCs. The silence mechanisms show a concept of multilayered application and use of silence (Menezes & Mendes, 2023; Freire, 2011) and Sara Ahmed's concept of non-performativity (2006, 2012), investigates how institutions use speech acts as symbolic gestures that successfully obstruct meaningful action. According to ethnographic fieldwork done between April and May 2025, employees are unable to publicly show solidarity with Palestine is a result of fear, professional risk, and reputational concerns. The research illustrates how EMPA-T members strategically navigate these constraints by forming internal networks, mobilizing informal community spaces, and directly confronting institutional complicity through counterstatements (letters and comments) and statements during vigils. The thesis argues that Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) policies function not as genuine instruments of equity but as administrative tools reinforcing complicit silence, selectively amplifying depoliticized differences while excluding Palestine from institutional discourse. Findings highlight three main dynamics: first, how individual fear and organizational discipline produce multilayered silencing effects; second, the institutional use of non-performative declarations to obscure inaction, particularly contrasting responses to Ukraine, Iran, and Sudan versus Palestine; and third, how administrative infrastructures, including hierarchical communication and D&I initiatives, maintain a carefully managed silence around politically contentious issues. Ultimately, this research underscores the interconnectedness of silence and non-performativity as strategic institutional practices, and documents how healthcare workers actively challenge these structures to redefine institutional accountability and ethical responsibility toward Palestine.