French police disperse a student sit-in in solidarity with Palestine
French police dispersed a sit-in by pro-Palestine students in Paris, but the demonstrators vowed to continue occupying university buildings, demanding condemnation of Israel and severing ties with it.
Students from across Paris reportedly gathered to protest the ongoing war in Gaza and to urge President Emmanuel Macron to push for a ceasefire.
The students told The National newspaper that the Sciences Po University, from which Macron graduated, is a scene for intensifying expressions of pro-Palestinian sentiment.
Footage of the moment the CRS police intervened at Sciences Po to remove the students who camped inside in solidarity with #Gaza And requesting the university to “cease disciplinary hearings” against some of the students #France – video obtained by students pic.twitter.com/jqHkMKpdDf
— Dalal Mawad Dalal Moawad (@dalalmawad) April 25, 2024
One student said: “We were inspired by what is happening in many American universities, whether it is Columbia or Harvard.”
A police statement said that the Institute of Political Science’s protest was considered “contributing to creating a strong climate of tension between students, teachers, and employees,” noting that about ten tents were set up in the campus courtyard.
Riot police said on Wednesday evening that they had evacuated about 60 students “occupying” the campus of the University of Saint Thomas in the heart of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood.
The camps are an American-style form of protest on campus. They are less common at French universities, where students often physically occupy buildings to signify protest.
French police also banned a number of pro-Palestine protests that took place earlier in the year. Activists said they were “standing on the right side of history” regarding the war between Israel and Gaza. (RT)
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