Pro-Palestinian protests at Swiss universities continue
Published: Tuesday, May 14th 2024, 17:10
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The pro-Palestinian protests at Swiss universities are continuing. A new group occupied the main building of the University of Zurich on Tuesday. The universities of Zurich, Basel and Bern issued ultimatums to vacate the university buildings. In Geneva, premises were evacuated by the police.
The main building of the University of Zurich was occupied, the "Students for Palestine" group announced on Tuesday. As at other universities, a clear position of the university against human rights violations in Gaza and an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and companies were demanded. The University of Zurich set the occupiers a deadline of 5 p.m., otherwise the university would file a criminal complaint with the police.
The University of Basel gave the protesters on its premises an ultimatum until 8pm on Tuesday evening. In return, it promised the protesters a meeting with the university management on Wednesday. The squatters wanted to discuss this at the plenary session.
Ultimatum to the University of Bern expired
The pro-Palestinian movement at the University of Bern let an ultimatum from the university management pass on Tuesday. The movement should have vacated the occupied premises of the Unitobler building by midday. It was initially unclear what would happen next. The university reserved the right to end the occupation.
They have no plans to leave the site and are continuing to seek dialog with the university, said a spokesperson for the protesters on site at midday. Over 120 employees of the University of Bern, including professors and mid-level staff, expressed their solidarity with the protesters in an open online letter. At the same time, opponents of the action launched an online petition calling for an immediate end to the occupation.
At the University of Fribourg, 50 to 100 people occupied the entrance area of a building at the University of Pérolles on Monday. After a discussion with the rector Katharina Fromm, they left the site again in the evening. However, the activists announced on Tuesday that they intended to resume the occupation. The university management, for its part, expressed its determination to ensure that the university could continue to operate as normal.
The university announced that it would prepare a complaint for trespassing and would not hesitate to file it in the event of a further breach of internal rules. The police will therefore have extended powers and a legal basis for their actions.
Police eviction in Geneva
The police took action against pro-Palestinian students at the University of Geneva early on Tuesday morning. They had been occupying the UniMail building for almost a week. At around 5 a.m., over a dozen police officers carried out ID checks and evacuated around fifty students. The Rectorate had considered the night-time occupation of the UniMail to be illegal from the outset.
The pro-Palestinian protests began last week in Lausanne. The students ended their nocturnal occupation last Wednesday evening after spending six nights in the entrance hall of the Géopolis building. They returned on Thursday morning to continue their daytime mobilization.
At ETH Zurich, the city police quickly broke up a sit-in in the entrance hall on Tuesday last week and reported 28 people. The ETH filed a criminal complaint for trespassing.
©Keystone/SDA
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