Irish, Swiss students launch campaign in solidarity with Palestine
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Lausanne University in Switzerland did not take action against the occupation of the campus building to continue, given that work on campus was not interrupted.
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Students at Trinity College Dublin set up an encampment for Palestine, demanding that their university cut ties with "Israel" (X/@TCDSU_President)
Dublin's Trinity College students in Ireland and Lausanne University in Switzerland have joined US universities in solidarity with the encampments protesting against the Israeli war on Gaza.
The encampment at Trinity College forced the university to block campus access this weekend and shut down the Book of Kells exhibition, which is one of the top tourist attractions.
However, the encampment was the result of the students' union saying the university fined it 214,000 euros ($230,000) for losses caused by protests in recent months, not exclusively over Gaza. Now, the protesters are demanding that the college cut academic ties with "Israel" and divest from companies with ties to the occupation regime.
Laszlo Molnarfi, president of the institution's student union, told Irish public broadcaster RTE that the students demand the university sever any relationships it has with "Israel".
"The Book of Kells is now closed" for an indefinite period, Molnarfi posted on X, adding, "No business as usual during a genocide."
Students at Trinity College Dublin have set up an encampment for Palestine, demanding that their university cut ties with Israel as per BDS principles supported by the vast majority of students and staff. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 @TrinityBDS @tcdsu @tcddublin pic.twitter.com/Uw44FjLmaJ
— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) May 3, 2024
Last week, the head of Trinity College, Linda Doyle, claimed the university was reviewing investments but it was up to individual academics to decide if they want to work with Israeli institutions.
European universities join on
Meanwhile, in Lausanne, almost 100 students occupied a building demanding an end to scientific cooperation with "Israel".
One protester told Swiss television on Saturday that "Palestinians have been dying for over 200 days, but we're not being heard", adding: "Now there's a global movement to get governments to take action, but it's not happening. That's why we want to get universities involved now."
Read next: How Columbia University is the new face of the Intellectual Intifada
The university did allow the occupation of the building to continue given that work on campus was not interrupted.
Frederic Herman, the university's rector, told RTS radio: "We universities are not called upon to take political stands".
On Friday, France's Sciences Po University in Paris witnessed police forces dragging dozens of students out as they had staged a sit-in across several buildings on campus in protest of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
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."
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.
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.
