New pro-Palestinian occupation at the EPFL
Published: Thursday, May 16th 2024, 14:20
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A new pro-Palestinian occupation began on the campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) on Thursday afternoon. The occupation is "peaceful and does not block the lecture rooms" in the hall of the architecture building, according to the Student Coordination for Palestine (CEP).
According to a press release from the CEP, this meeting is characterized by dialogue. The school is expected to show goodwill towards its students and not repeat the mistakes of last week. At that time, EPFL had called in the forces of law and order to end an initial occupation.
Like the actions on other campuses, this action is also spontaneous and has no leader, according to the collective. The demands are always the same, including the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
On Tuesday, May 7, the occupation was ended by the demonstrators at around 5.30 pm. On the same day that it had begun. The next day, the management of the institution met with the students for around three hours. The parties praised the polite dialog, which was constructive according to the President of EPFL, Martin Vetterli.
At the end of the meeting, the EPFL management maintained its position that it rejects an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. For its part, the delegation of pro-Palestinian students felt that it had obtained "some concessions", but promised that "the movement will continue". EPFL, for its part, promised to conduct a thorough analysis of its research agreements with Israeli institutions.
©Keystone/SDA
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