Sciences-po Paris once again the scene of pro-Palestinian mobilization. The police intervened on Wednesday morning outside the premises of the prestigious Parisian political studies institute, which were briefly blocked by around a hundred students demonstrating “in support of the Palestinian people”, the AFP noted.
From 7.30am the protesters blocked access to the plant with a pile of rubbish bins, bicycles and scooters. On a banner, attached to the bars of a window of the school, was the words “neither forgotten nor forgiven”. A large Palestinian flag was also spread on the street, in front of the entrance to the school located on rue Saint-Guillaume in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, an AFP journalist noted.
Access to the school was unblocked shortly before 9am, after the intervention of the police, in a peaceful manner, and lessons, canceled in the first part of the morning, resumed at 10am, according to the management of Sciences-po Paris.
“Let’s end these massacres”
“We cannot remain silent in the face of the atrocities committed in Gaza,” a representative of Sciences-po’s Palestinian committee, who wished to remain anonymous, said into a megaphone. “Over the last year I have seen horrific images of violence. I want the world to know about Palestine and for these massacres to stop,” Alice, a student at Sciences-po Paris and member of the Student Union, told AFP. According to her “it was important to be there today to demonstrate that the fight continues”.
Another pro-Palestinian demonstration called by student unions is scheduled for Wednesday starting at 6pm in Place de la Sorbonne, also in Paris. In Rennes, on Wednesday morning, around forty students blocked access to the Sciences-po building. At midday the venue was still closed, according to management contacted by AFP.
On Tuesday, some small rallies had already taken place in front of Sciences-po in Paris or Lille. In Menton, in front of another Sciences-po factory, inscriptions were discovered (including “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon”) which gave rise to a complaint by the management.
The new director of Sciences-po Paris, Luis Vassy, who took office last week, has also taken legal action, the establishment indicated on Saturday, following recent demonstrations in support of Gaza which took place some days at the institute. He particularly targeted Hicham Touili-Idrissi, a collaborator of the rebel MEP Rima Hassan in the European Parliament and a member of the Palestine committee of the rue Saint-Guillaume establishment.
“Maintenance of order”
The new Minister of Higher Education, Patrick Hetzel, spoke in a press release on Friday about “demonstrations and stances of a political nature” in “several institutions”, including Sciences-po Paris, “actions” which he “strongly condemned “, believing that they went “against the principles of neutrality and secularism of the public service of higher education”.
He also warned university presidents of their responsibility to “maintain order” ahead of the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, via a circular sent to them.
France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for Palestinian and Lebanese flags to be flown at universities in reaction to this circular. “University students are adult citizens who have freedom of expression, who have the right to express themselves, including a form of solidarity and compassion for causes at an international level,” defended LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard on BFMTV on Tuesday.
Sciences-po had already been the scene of numerous pro-Palestinian mobilizations in the spring, resulting in police interventions, in an electrifying political climate. The institute announced at the beginning of the school year that it wanted to “better educate” its students on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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