The police intervened during the night of Wednesday April 24 to Thursday April 25 on one of the campuses of Sciences Po Paris, to evacuate the site occupied by a few dozen students who were holding a pro-Palestinian rally there, the police said on Thursday. management of the establishment.
Wednesday evening, “the outdoor amphitheater of the campus at 1 rue Saint-Thomas was occupied by around sixty students campaigning in favor of the Palestinian cause, contributing to a strong climate of tension for students, teachers and employees” of the school, according to the management which sent a message to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“After discussion with the management of Sciences Po, most agreed to leave the premises” but “a small group of students nevertheless refused and it was decided that the police would evacuate the site” , she added. The management of the establishment “regrets that the numerous attempts at dialogue so that they leave the premises peacefully have not made it possible to find another way out of this situation.”
Wave of pro-Palestine student mobilization in the United States
This mobilization was organized by the Palestine Committee of Sciences Po. It took place while several American universities are the site of mobilizations and conflicts opposing their students against a backdrop of war in the Gaza Strip, due to the conflict opposing the Israeli army to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
According to testimonies collected by AFP on Wednesday evening, students gathered on the site of the Parisian Grande Ecole demanded that Science Po “cut its ties with universities and companies which are complicit in the genocide in Gaza” and “the end of crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices on campus.”
Last week, in the United States, around a hundred students from Columbia University were arrested. They demanded an end to the war ravaging Gaza and called for their university to boycott all activities related to Israel. The anger of pro-Palestinian American students grew on Wednesday, with tense confrontations with police in Texas, New York, New England and California.
