“When Russia invaded Ukraine, the University of Cambridge severed relations with it,” read students at the prestigious academic center this week. “We don’t understand why they refuse to do this right now.” In many of the prestigious universities where severe demonstrations have been recorded in recent days, there is a demand from the administrations to sever all academic ties with Israel – whether they are Israeli educational institutions or whether they are Israeli researchers or students.
One of the main targets of the clashes is at the Free University of Berlin, and a protest tent similar to those set up on campuses in the USA was set up there. Other targets where demonstrations and clashes were recorded: France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Denmark and more.
In Berlin, at least 20 tents were set up at the city’s Free University. The demonstrators joined hands and set up a human chain in order to prevent the security forces from damaging the compound. According to a report by the local media, many of the protesters covered their faces with masks and put caps on their heads. One of the chants heard: “Long live Palestine.” According to the organizers of the demonstration, the demonstrators are students from various universities in the German capital.
The administration of the Free University updated that it called the police itself after the protesters refused any kind of conversation and some of them even tried to take over buildings on the campus. “Occupation is unthinkable at the Free University of Berlin,” said university president Gunther Ziegler, “we are ready for academic discourse, but not in this way.” Berlin Mayor Kai Wagner praised the university’s decision to bring the police into the campus.
Another target of demonstrations in Berlin is the prestigious Humboldt University. A few days ago dozens of people were arrested there during an attempt by the local police to clear the demonstration. Another demonstration, not particularly large, was registered at the University of Leipzig.
Humboldt University in Berlin
Young German hipster students call for an Intifada against Israel and start a U.S.-style “Liberated Zone” in front of the Humboldt University in Berlin.
Berlin should be the last place on earth where these chants are heard
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) May 3, 2024
This week an extensive demonstration involving about 3,000 people, including lecturers and students, was held at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In the documents published on the social networks, severe confrontations of the demonstrators with the police were seen, including the shooting of fireworks, and confrontations were also recorded with pro-Israeli elements, with several incidents of severe violence. “Palestine will be free” and “the police are off campus” are some of the chants heard at the demonstration.
“The only path to choose or a total academic boycott of Israel,” Jamil Fiorino Habib, a communication lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, was quoted in the media. On behalf of the university administration, it was stated: “We share the anger and bewilderment about the war, and we understand that there are protests about it. We reiterate and emphasize that within the university – dialogue is the only possible answer.”
At the University of Vienna in Austria, a complex of at least 20 tents was set up near the location where the memorial ceremony for the Holocaust and heroism of Jewish students was held this week. Because of this, there was an increasing police presence and there was fear of conflicts and friction. The Austrian student organization criticized the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses, saying that “anti-Semitic groups are among their organizers.”
In the United Kingdom, there were protests at the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge universities, and more than 200 researchers at Oxford signed a letter expressing support for the protests. In Finland, dozens of protesters set up a protest tent at the University of Helsinki, and promised that they would not dismantle it “until the university cuts academic ties with universities in Israel.” Another protest camp was set up at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and the university’s administration sent a message that protests can continue “as long as the campus rules are maintained.”
In Italy, protest camps were set up at the University of Bologna, one of the oldest in the world. Additional campuses were established at the universities of Rome and Naples. In Spain, protest camps were set up at universities in Valencia, Barcelona, and also at the Basque University in Laihua. At the University of Madrid, the students also promised to set up a protest tent.
“Attal come back, you forgot your dog!” » Students at Sciences Po Paris do not want the provisional administrator appointed by the regime to silence them about what is happening in Palestine and elsewhere. #Rafah pic.twitter.com/jnTXYZmHRe
— Ariane Anemoyannis (@AAnemoyannis) May 7, 2024
In Paris, very severe clashes were recorded at the “Sciences Poe” University, the Paris Institute of Political Science. Over the course of several days, clashes were recorded, with images of protesters also breaking into buildings and compounds where end-of-year exams were held for students. Last week, Valerie Packers, president of the Île-de-France region (in which the capital Paris is located), announced the suspension of all funding to the “Science Poe” University – “until order and peace are restored.” she wrote in a tweet onX Because “a radical minority calling for anti-Semitic hatred will not dictate the law to the entire educational community.”