uSince May 7, a hundred students have occupied a building on the Solbosch campus of the Free University of Brussels (ULB) to show their support for the Palestinian people. Believing that the way in which the movement has evolved “no longer responds to the ideals that motivated it”, the rector of the ULB, Annemie Schaus, called on Monday the students to vacate the building as quickly as possible.
Under the name of the “Popular University of Brussels”, the student occupation denounces the “genocide” underway in Gaza and urges the management of the ULB to “unequivocally break off all forms of collaboration with Zionist academic institutions and businesses who participate in the systematic oppression of the Palestinian people.”
At the end of May, the university management announced that it would suspend any agreement and institutional research project involving an Israeli university, until there was a “clear commitment” from the universities concerned “in favor of the requirements issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). ) on May 24.
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After an academic council held on Monday, the rector sent an email to the occupants. She deplores the lack of communication from the student movement and the “degradations committed” during several actions carried out.
“I cannot subscribe to these provocations which attempt to lead us into a spiral of violence, nor tolerate the degradation or the climate of invective that you are creating through your incessant actions on campus,” said Annemie Schaus. “None of this, however, will be able to influence our desire for real dialogue, nor our commitment to taking concrete actions to contribute to the establishment of a peace process in the Middle East. »
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The ULB claims to have “heard a significant portion of student concerns” and “will continue to do so”. “But this occupation must end. I therefore ask you to restore building B and vacate it as quickly as possible,” concluded the rector.
