Europe Becomes New Center For Student Protests Supporting Palestine

Europe has become the new center of student demonstrations in support of Palestine, which started at Columbia University in the US in mid-April.

More than 2,500 people have been detained so far in protests in which the police intervened at the request of the administrations at many universities in the US.

Students at universities around the world are gathering on their campuses to support the demonstrations that started at Columbia University and to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

University protests in European countries continued after Israel decided to continue its attacks in Rafah after Hamas announced that it had agreed to the “cease-fire proposals”.

Finland

Pro-Palestine demonstrations were held at the University of Helsinki.

Students, who demanded that the university administration terminate all student exchange agreements and research collaborations with Israeli educational institutions, announced that they would continue their protests until relations are severed.

Denmark

Students at the University of Copenhagen, who reacted to the police breaking up demonstrations at the University of Southern California in the US, set up camps to show solidarity.

At the University of Southern California, police removed students who supported Palestine and removed the Gaza Solidarity Camp on the campus.

The UK

Protests continue at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, University College London (UCL), Newcastle, Sheffield, Warwick, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester in England.

In the protests attended by approximately 50 students at Newcastle University, the university was urged to “cut off relations with Israel.”

Also, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reacted to the ongoing protests in support of Palestine in universities in the country and said a group of minorities in universities affects the education and life of other students.

Spain

At the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), it was decided to “cut off relations with Israeli educational institutions that are not in favor of peace.”

“We are committed to reviewing and, where appropriate, suspending cooperation agreements with Israeli universities and research centers that do not express a firm commitment to peace and compliance with international humanitarian law,” CRUE said in a statement.

Professors and university administration also support students in the ongoing protests in some universities in other regions of Spain, such as Basque Country, Navarra, Aragon, Andalusia and Catalonia.

University protests in Spain started on April 29 at the University of Valencia.

Switzerland

Demonstrations continue at the universities of Geneva and Lausanne to condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza and to support the pro-Palestine protests at universities in the US and Europe.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which started at the University of Lausanne on May 2 and at the University of Geneva campus on May 7, continue uninterrupted.

Due to the protests attended by hundreds of students and academics, the university administration is expected to take a clear stance on the academic boycott of Israeli institutions.

Austria

Students kept protesting as the police forcibly ended a demonstration in support of Palestine at the University of Vienna at night.

Many demonstrators gathered in front of the Votive Church near the University of Vienna and reacted to the peaceful campus protest being dispersed by the police force.

The Netherlands

Demonstrations started on May 6 at the University of Amsterdam and were followed by the Utrecht University students.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered on the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam and marched from the campus to the city center after they were prevented by the police.

The demonstrators chanted anti-war slogans such as “Stop the occupation”, “Amsterdam says no to genocide” and “United people will never be defeated.”

France

In Paris, police teams used pepper gas against pro-Palestinian students gathered in front of Sorbonne University.

Activists camped in the lecture hall of Sorbonne University and demanded that the university administration end its partnerships with universities and companies that contributed to the “genocide” in Gaza.

Students chanted slogans such as “Prosperity, we are all with you”, “We are all children of Gaza” and “Algeria won, Palestine will win too” and demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

The police used pepper gas and pushed the students away from the entrance of the university. The police entered the university and forcibly removed the students protesting in the lecture hall.

On Monday, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, a move widely seen as a prelude to Israel’s long-feared attack on the city, home to some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

A day later, Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing, which connects Gaza and Egypt, closing it to all traffic.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion last year that killed about 1,200 people.

Tel Aviv’s war has since killed more than 34,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while some 78,500 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Over seven months into Israel’s genocidal war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory.

It also ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and asked it to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to Gaza’s civilians.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar