Police evacuate pro-Palestinian students who occupied an amphitheater at the Sorbonne

Several dozen of them had taken possession of the premises at the end of the afternoon, according to the student organization Le Poing Raised.

The police intervened at the Sorbonne on Tuesday May 7, franceinfo learned from the police headquarters. They evacuated pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had occupied an amphitheater at the Parisian university for around two hours in “solidarity” with Gaza. The first demonstrators were taken out into the street from a side access door to the university, sometimes carried at arm’s length by law enforcement agents, noted an AFP journalist, while activists Pro-Palestinians were also still present outside, nearby.

The police headquarters announced that they had arrested 39 people during this operation, which had not yet ended around 10 p.m. Nearly 80 people had taken possession of the premises at the end of the afternoon, “with tents”, declared Lorélia Fréjo, student at Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, activist for the student organization Le Poing lei. She was present in front of the Parisian university with around 200 demonstrators, noted an AFP journalist. On the front door of the building, rue Cujas (5th arrondissement), a sign “Palestine will win” and a Palestinian flag were pasted.

After a previous occupation, on April 29, by around fifty demonstrators inside the Sorbonne, the police intervened to disperse the gathering, at the request of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. The police arrived on site around 7:45 p.m. and began to surround some of the demonstrators. “A few dozen people trespassed into the Sorbonne and are currently occupying certain spaces in the building”the Paris rectorate confirmed to AFP. “The situation is being monitored with great attention by the rectorate services in conjunction with the ministry”.

“Rafah, we’re with you!”

With this new action, the activists, who chanted “Rafah, Rafah, we are with you!”hear “lobby” on governments as the Israeli army deployed tanks Tuesday into Rafah and took control of the border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip, cutting off access for humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory .

“We cannot remain silent in the face of injustice and suffering. We call on our universities and our government to listen to our voices and act accordingly“, wrote in a press release the “students of the Palestine committees of the Sorbonne”.

Echoing the mobilization on American campuses, several actions have taken place in recent weeks in France, mainly around the Sciences Po sites. Without spreading the word, this mobilization is igniting the political debate in the middle of the European campaign. Pro-Palestinian students in Europe continued to mobilize by occupying campuses and attempting to block university premises, notably in Berlin, Cologne and Switzerland.