Pro-Palestinian students at the Polyscientificat, one of France's most elite universities, occupied a campus building overnight. Like-minded demonstrators from University College London set up an encampment. And this week, tents with Palestinian flags were erected on Australian university campuses.
The tensions gripping American universities appear to be spreading to other countries as well, with student activists challenging their schools' positions on the Gaza war and relations with Israel.
Demonstrators at several French universities are stepping up their condemnation of Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip and pressuring authorities to review their partnerships with Israeli universities and private donors.
Police entered the Polytechnic on Friday morning to remove a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had occupied a campus building overnight, a university spokesperson said. The intervention came after a town hall debate on the Gaza war held Thursday at the university, whose alumni include leading politicians, civil servants and business leaders, failed to ease tensions. This was done in response to this.
The main campus in Paris was closed on Friday, an Academy of Sciences spokesperson said. According to a live video shared on Instagram, students sitting in the hall chanted, “We demand justice!” Catch the police! ” when officers pulled them up.
In the UK, small camps are starting to appear at universities in the cities of Bristol, Newcastle and Warwick. And a coalition of University College London students and staff set up tents on campus grounds Thursday to pressure the school to divest from companies complicit in what they called “Palestinian genocide” and other demands. I applied it.
“We will not move until the university complies with our demands,” a spokesperson, identified only by Anwar, said in a social media post Thursday. The university did not respond to requests for comment.
The union representing students at Trinity College Dublin has issued a 214,000-billion sum to the university for financial losses caused by destructive protests since last September over the Gaza war and student fee rises. It was announced that a fine of more than 230,000 euros (approximately $230,000) was imposed. In a statement, the nonprofit university cited the “economic fallout” from protests blocking visitor access to the Book of Kells, a medieval religious manuscript in its collection. Ta.
Laszlo Molnarfi, president of Trinity College's students' union, said in a telephone interview that the union could not afford to pay the fine. He called this an attempt at intimidation by the university, adding that protests would continue.
“We're going to escalate,” he said. “The students of Columbia and the United States are an absolute inspiration to all of us here.”
In Australia, camps are set up at major universities in the cities of Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. The protests have become even more tense as pro-Israel demonstrators gather nearby.
The Australian Jewish Students' Union said in a social media post on Thursday about the encampment that it was “deeply concerned about the further escalation of vilification against Jewish students.”
Australian university administrators said they supported students' right to protest but warned them to abide by school policies.
Vicky Thomson, chief executive of the Group of Eight, a group representing Australia's leading universities, said: “Students will not be exposed to the same problems that are challenging wider society. It's naive to think that it's deaf.” He told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Aurelian Breeden Contributed to the report.