University occupations in Bern, Basel and Lausanne ended
Published: Wednesday, May 15th 2024, 15:10
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The occupations of the universities of Bern, Basel and Lausanne by pro-Palestinian activists ended on Wednesday. New protests have been added at the University of Neuchâtel. The action also continued in Fribourg for the time being.
The University of Neuchâtel was the last university in French-speaking Switzerland without a student occupation in support of the people of Gaza. On Wednesday, a collective of students, employees and former students took up residence in the auditorium of the University of Neuchâtel (UniNE). As in other places, they demanded an evaluation of the UniNE's cooperation with Israeli institutions.
At the same time, the university management in Freiburg gave the protesters an ultimatum to vacate the occupied premises by 3 pm. Otherwise, the rectorate threatened to take the necessary "measures".
Universities of Basel, Bern and Lausanne evacuated
The police had already taken action in Basel and Bern. After two ultimatums had expired, the Basel police cleared the occupied Bernoullianum at the University of Basel in the afternoon, they announced on X. The University of Basel has filed a criminal complaint.
In the early hours of the morning, around 30 squatters from the University of Bern had already followed a request from the police and left the building. It was reported that the eviction was peaceful.
In Lausanne, the management of the University of Lausanne (Unil) and the pro-Palestinian collective reached an agreement. The management committed itself to setting up a group of experts to re-evaluate cooperation with academic institutions in countries in armed conflict. However, the university rejected the idea of breaking off academic cooperation with Israel.
The protests began almost two weeks ago in Lausanne. They then spread to several universities throughout Switzerland. In Zurich and Geneva, the occupations had already been dispersed by the police.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish