Several dozen students gathered at the Sorbonne this Monday at noon to mobilize in favor of the Palestinian cause outside the building and inside the university where they set up tents, following a similar event at Sciences Po on Friday.
The police intervened in the afternoon. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal “asked that the Sorbonne be quickly evacuated” because he “asked for Sciences Po on Friday”, his entourage said. Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne University said “the Sorbonne will be closed this afternoon by decision of the Rectorate”. “The amphitheatres were evacuated around noon,” the Paris Rectorate said.
Lecture halls evacuated, exams cancelled
According to the Paris Rectorate, around thirty activists gathered at the Sorbonne, where nine tents were set up in the courtyard and three in the hall, and a Palestinian flag was placed on the ground. “The auditoriums were evacuated around noon and the exams were cancelled,” it added.
“Israeli murderer, accomplice of the Sorbonne” or “Don’t look at us, join us” chanted the students outside the Sorbonne, where about 150 people gathered, in the presence of LFI representative Louis Boyard.
Inspired by American universities
“We are here at the request of Harvard and Columbia students,” said Lorélia Fréjo, a Paris-1 student and activist with the student organization Le Poing Levé. “Following the events at Sciences Po, we are here to ensure that this continues.”
Police intervened in the afternoon to evacuate pro-Palestinian activists. Around fifty protesters were brought to the front of the building and then moved away in groups under police supervision.
Evacuation, no arrests
“When the police arrived there were about fifty people running in the courtyard. The evacuation was quite brutal, about ten people were pulled to the ground, but no one was arrested,” said Rémi, 20, a history and geography student at the Sorbonne who was one of the protesters who occupied the interior of the building. “They escorted us to the exit and then took us as a group back to rue Saint-Jacques,” he added.
Friday, a day of blockade and mobilization punctuated by tension, took place at Sciences Po Paris in the presence of several LFI representatives.