On the fourth day of the occupation of the University of Geneva by pro-Palestinian students, a rally organized today at Uni Mail was marked by altercations with pro-Israeli demonstrators.
In the middle of a minute of silence in tribute to the victims in Gaza, a few people carrying the Israeli flag enter the Uni Mail lobby. They chant in Hebrew: “The people of Israel live”, a symbol of unity since the massacres of last October.
“From the river to the sea, it’s a call for the genocide of the Jews, that’s enough!”
A crowd then converges towards the entrance: tension rises: “Terrorist,” shouts a pro-Palestinian. To prevent a physical confrontation, the organizers of the student rally set up a security cordon between the two camps. In front of the Israeli flag that she is protecting, a woman fumes: “We can’t see this anymore – in relation to the banner displayed at Uni Mail on which is written: from the river to the sea – it’s a call for genocide Jews, that’s enough! We are in a democracy, we cannot say everything in a university. These posters are an annihilation of our values.”
Israeli sympathizers exfiltrated
In just a few minutes, these Israeli sympathizers were exfiltrated outside the alma mater where the Chief Rabbi of Geneva is located. He wanted to enter to start a discussion, but he was refused access. At the head of the university, we regret these altercations. “The slogans we heard do not honor the values of the University,” explains Marco Cattaneo, director of communications.
Before these excesses, speeches followed one another in the hall. The rector Audrey Leuba, whom the student coordination had announced, did not come. Objective: to gather as many people as possible. “We wanted to broaden the mobilization and show that public opinion supported us, that it was not just a few students in their corner who had these demands,” indicates Zora Holzer, member of the Student Coordination for Palestine.
The University occupied again this night
Their demands remain unchanged, among them: recognition by the university of the state of genocide in Gaza and the end of partnerships with Israeli entities. The students will occupy the university at least tonight before the scientific committee meeting tomorrow.
