French police enter Sciences Po Uni, break up pro-Palestine sit-in
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French police dismantle a student pro-Palestine sit-in across the campus of Sciences Po University protesting the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
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A protester is escorted away by French police forces in Paris on Friday, May 3, 2024. (AFP)
French police forces dragged dozens of students out of France's Sciences Po University in Paris, as they had staged a sit-in across several buildings on campus in protest of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Student protests have been escalating and expanding over the past few weeks in the Americas and across several European countries in support of occupied Palestine and Gaza.
Read more: Palestinian student movement calls for engagement in global uprising
Sciences Po is one of France's elite political science schools, known for its notable alumni such as President Emmanuel Macron. Protests in the university erupted last week, calling for an immediate halt to the Israeli war on Gaza and the cessation of academic collaborations with the occupation entity.
23 pro-Palestine university protests dismantled in France
A student body committee of pro-Palestinian students announced on Thursday a "peaceful sit-in" inside university buildings, and that six students were starting a hunger strike "in solidarity with Palestinian victims."
At least 23 pro-Palestine university protests across France have been forcibly dismantled since Thursday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's office said, adding that such protests would be dealt with using "total rigor".
The French government said that requests to disperse demonstrations "were made by university presidents, and law enforcement intervened immediately."
Read more: Uni. heads, police fail to halt pro-Palestine protests in EU, US
#شاهد.. في #فرنسا يستمر الطلّاب المعتصمون ضد "إسرائيل" بالتصدي لقوات الأمن التي تقوم بضربهم وقمعهم.#الميادين #ثورة_الجامعات #غزة pic.twitter.com/uAt0xOd4Tp
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) May 3, 2024
Describing the policy on how the anti-genocide protests will be handled, Attal emphasized that "firmness was and will remain [comprehensive]."
Despite the crackdown, thousands of students and activists rallied in the Place du Panthéon, chanting slogans in support of Gaza and Palestine and calling for the genocide to end.
In one of the chants, the crowds described the Israelis as "murderers" and that French President Emmanuel Macron was an accomplice to the occupation's crimes against the Palestinian people.
Read more: Amid US arrests, UK students follow suit, start pro-Palestine protests
"Israel asesinos, Macron eres complice", gritan estudiantes que han venido de diversas universidades a plaza del Panthéon, junto a La Sorbona en #Paris. #ısrael #FreePalestine #SciencesPo #Sorbonne pic.twitter.com/5MWjt6yhkX
— Miguel Martínez✏ (@MiguelMtzCo) May 3, 2024
