The police intervened, Wednesday October 9 in the morning, in front of the Sciences Po premises in Paris, briefly blocked by around a hundred students who were demonstrating “in support of the Palestinian people”noted Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Since around 7:30 a.m., demonstrators had blocked access to the establishment with a pile of trash cans, bicycles and scooters. A banner attached to the school window grille read: “Neither forget nor forgive”. A large Palestinian flag was also hung in the street, in front of the entrance to the school located on rue Saint-Guillaume in the VIIe district of the capital, noted an AFP journalist. Access to the school was unblocked shortly before 9 a.m. after the peaceful intervention of the police.
“We cannot remain silent in the face of atrocities committed in Gaza”declared on the megaphone a representative of the Palestine committee of Sciences Po, who wished to remain anonymous. “For the past year, I have seen horrible images of violence. I want the world to hear about Palestine and for these massacres to stop.”explained to AFP Alice, a student at Sciences Po Paris, unionized in the Student Union. According to her, “it was important to be there today to show that the fight continues”.
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Other gatherings in Lille and Menton
The new Minister of Higher Education, Patrick Hetzel, warned university presidents on Friday about their responsibility in the “maintaining order” before the anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel, October 7, 2023. He had invoked “the principles of neutrality and secularism of the public service of higher education”.
In Paris, another pro-Palestinian rally called by student unions is planned for Wednesday from 6 p.m. at Place de la Sorbonne.
On Tuesday, small gatherings had already taken place in front of Sciences Po in Paris or Lille. In Menton, in front of another Sciences Po establishment, inscriptions had been discovered (including « Free Palestine, Free Lebanon ») and gave rise to a management complaint.
In the spring, Sciences Po was the scene of several pro-Palestinian mobilizations leading to police interventions, in an electric political climate.
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