Hundreds of students who had congregated in support of Palestinians at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, popularly known as Sciences Po, were removed by French police on 3rd May after it was occupied since the night of 2nd May. The university rejected the demands of the protesters to cut ties with Israel and removed them without violence.
The administration of the university shifted classes online and closed the main buildings. The action was in line with similar demonstrations and encampments that have transpired across the country, after massive protests in American universities by pro-Palestine groups. The university was shuttered for the day and its main building was heavily guarded by police.
Students supported Gaza residents by waving Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Hamas slogans as Israel continued its offensive in the wake of the fatal strike led by Hamas on 7th October that ignited the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Pro-Palestinian students intended to demonstrate later in the day to demand a halt to Israel’s offensive in Gaza in front of the Pantheon monument, which is close to the prestigious Sorbonne University. Similar demonstrations were held at a few other campuses around the nation, a day earlier including those in Lille and Lyon.
One student told reporters that “around 50 students were still inside the rue Saint-Guillaume site” when police entered. Administrators reported that “between 70 and 80 people” were gathered in the central Paris building’s foyer. A spokesman for Sciences Po stated that the university was looking for a “negotiated solution to end the standoff” with its students and that protests were also occurring at some of its satellite campuses which are located in Reims, Le Havre and Poitiers. This was mentioned before the police intervention.
On 2nd May, the Prime Minister’s Office declared that students had been asked to leave twenty-three places on French campuses by police and “all were evacuated within a few hours.” He promised to use “total rigour” in dealing with such protests. Reporters had earlier been informed by university students involved in the Palestine Committee that they were facing a “disproportionate” response from the police, who had barred entry to the location before their arrival. A lack of “medical assistance” for seven students who had begun a hunger strike “in solidarity with Palestinian victims” was another issue they raised.
According to a statement, police will continue to be stationed close to Sciences Po to prevent any more blockades. Tensions erupted last week close to the prestigious university, whose numerous prominent graduates include Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and President Emmanuel Macron. A confrontation broke out between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protestors in the street outside Sciences Po. Riot cops rushed to keep the groups apart. As pro-Palestinian students decided to depart, the demonstration came to a peaceful close.
The French student protests over the war and academic links to Israel have taken root at Sciences Po and expanded throughout the country, although they have not reached the same magnitude as those in the United States. Sciences Po should “take a principled stance by sending an official communication condemning the actions of Israel that infringe upon the rights and well-being of Palestinians,” per the activist organization, and the university should sever ties with “institutions or entities that uphold Zionist ideologies.”
The Lille School of Journalism and Sciences Po Lyon, an unaffiliated institution in the third largest city in France was also shut down on 3rd May by agitating students. According to a student speaking on behalf of the protestors, Sciences Po’s director Jean Basseres on 2nd May rejected their demands to reassess the university’s relationships with Israeli universities. This prompted the demonstrators to continue their action, with at least one individual going on a hunger strike.
French student protests have been more peaceful than those in the US, according to Samuel Lejoyeux, head of the Union of Jewish Students of France, since there is a stronger desire for dialogue in France. He added, “With the overwhelming majority of students at French universities, including Sciences Po, it is still possible to have a debate. I even think there is an increased hunger for debate.”
Meanwhile, on 2nd May, the administration of Rutgers University in New Jersey and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis reached a settlement with the anti-Israeli protesting students to end their conflict and remove their Gaza solidarity campsite demonstration from the university’s property. The agreement was reached at Rutgers University following a meeting between the administration and students.
According to the protesters, the Rutgers University administration accepted 8 of their 10 demands to lift the encampment. The demands included divesting from companies that support or do business with Israel, ending Rutgers’ affiliation with Tel Aviv University, welcoming ten or more displaced Gaza students and displaying the flags of “occupied societies” including Palestinians, Kurds and Kashmiris alongside other existing international flags on campus.
Northwestern University and Brown University have also announced agreements with the protestors to end the protests.
