Police on Tuesday evicted pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied the university campus in Saint-Etienne since the previous day, while other students mobilized in Lyon, Grenoble and Dijon.
Demonstrations, sit-ins, a minute of silence: small gatherings inspired by movements in favor of Gaza in Paris or at American universities took place on the Sciences Po campuses of the three cities, reports Agence France-Presse.
In Saint-Etienne, around 10:30 a.m., the police cleared the political studies department of the Jean-Monnet University without encountering resistance from the thirty or so students present.
The protesters, who the police said caused no damage, obtained the acceptance of a delegation to discuss with the president of the university in order to hold a debate on the Palestinian issue, their representatives explained. On Monday, they won the support of Loire MP Andrée Taurinya (La France insoumise), whose party wants to expand the student protest.
“From Lyon to Gaza, let’s stand up to the resistance”
“I hope it takes off and fills the entire academic world”, also hopes Killian Soualmi, who on Tuesday demonstrated with about 150 people in the courtyard of Sciences Po Lyon, where he is preparing for civil service exams. Under the banners “Solidarity with Palestine” Or “From Lyon to Gaza, let’s stand up to the resistance”chanted the group “Palestine will live!” Palestine will win! ».
In Grenoble, about a hundred students participated in an hour-long sit-in on the tram tracks to demand, in particular, the end of the partnership established in 2023 between the faculty of Grenoble and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
“We call for the movement to continue after what happened at Sciences Po Paris”, said Robinson Rossi, president of the Grenoble Student Union. Students chanted slogans accusing the state and universities of being “Silent” AND “accomplices” of “Genocide in Gaza”.
In Dijon, about fifteen students gathered in the courtyard of Sciences Po’s Paris branch, waving the Palestinian flag. They parted shortly before 1 p.m., after a minute’s silence.