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University president draws red line at pro-Palestinian protests
May 3, 2024, 5:01 p.m
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USA, France, Germany, Mexico and Australia – students at universities almost around the world are protesting against Israel’s military deployment in the Gaza Strip. At Berlin’s Humboldt University, the university president tried to talk to the protesters – apparently unsuccessfully.
Student protests against the Israeli offensive in Gaza are increasingly spreading from the United States to universities around the world. Dozens of people gathered at the Humboldt University in Berlin for pro-Palestinian protests. In the French capital Paris, police intervened against a pro-Palestinian sit-in at the elite Sciences Po university. There were also protests on the campus of the largest university in Mexico and in Australia. US President Joe Biden called for order in view of the escalating demonstrations in his country.
In Berlin, around 90 people, many wearing Palestinian scarves, demonstrated at midday in an unregistered sit-in in the courtyard of the Mitte campus, the police said. Other supporters were in front of the building, around 150 people in total. Many of the mostly young people wore Palestinian scarves. The police assigned the protesters an alternative meeting place directly in front of the university campus.
The president of the university, Julia von Blumenthal, was also there and spoke to the protesters. “When injustice becomes right, resistance becomes a duty,” read one sign, while another read “From the Spree to Overseas the people will rise in solidarity.” solidarity”). “Viva Palestine” was heard on site.
University President: Core group has decided to shout loudly
Von Blumenthal said she made it clear that the university was a place for controversial discussions based on core values. “This includes no room for anti-Semitism, no room for racism and no room for any other form of discrimination.” There was a demand to break off contacts with Israel, “something that is completely out of the question for me.” She also offered to discuss the topic at an event in the coming weeks. But there was a core group that decided to shout loudly. Your offer is still available to students at Humboldt University.
In a discussion, it would be important to her to have a broad spectrum of positions, von Blumenthal continued. “There are different Jewish voices, there are different Palestinian voices, there are also academic positions.” In some cases, it was also about demands that the university could not support, such as the recognition of the state of Palestine and an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Berlin’s Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner, thanked the police on want France.”
Sciences Po is switching to online teaching
In Paris, police tried to remove dozens of demonstrators from the entrance hall of Sciences Po. According to a student, there were about 50 protesters in the building. According to television footage, the evacuation was peaceful. Because of the protests, the university switched to online operations and most buildings remained closed.
Since the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas began on October 7th, there have been repeated pro-Palestinian rallies and tensions at the Paris elite university. The police intervened several times. A protest camp with around 300 students was broken up on Thursday.
In the USA, there have been protests at numerous universities for more than two weeks against the Israeli military operation against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and in solidarity with the Palestinians living there. According to media reports, 2,000 people were arrested in connection with this. The protests are mostly about demanding that universities and companies cut financial ties with Israel. Critics accuse the radical part of the protest movement in particular of anti-Semitism and trivializing the terrorist organization Hamas.
In Australia, hundreds of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters faced off at the University of Sydney. Despite some tense exchanges, both gatherings remained peaceful and the police did not have to intervene.
In Mexico, dozens of pro-Palestinian students also camped in front of the National Autonomous University, the country’s largest university, in Mexico City. The students are calling on the Mexican government to cut off all diplomatic and economic relations with Israel.
In light of the protests at universities, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog denounced a “frightening resurgence of anti-Semitism” in the world and especially in the USA. Reputable universities there are “contaminated by hate and anti-Semitism,” he said on Thursday.