Around fifty activists set up on Thursday evening in the hall of the Géopolis building at the University of Lausanne. They demand in particular an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. After negotiations with the rectorate, the group was authorized to occupy the premises until Monday.
In the wake of student protests which are gaining momentum on campuses in the United States, Canada and France, around fifty demonstrators responded to a call to occupy this building. However, they emphasize their desire to remain “peaceful” and “respectful of the place”.
>> Read also: The pro-Palestinian movement spreads on American campuses, negotiations are underway
Palestinian flags were displayed on the ground and the protest was held peacefully, shouting slogans such as “Free Palestine”. A leaflet posted at the entrance to the building calls for people to join the ongoing mobilization.
Those present are generally demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire throughout the Palestinian territory, the immediate restoration of UNRWA funding and even “an end to the repression against the Palestine solidarity movement”.
The rectorate tempers
The rector of the University Frédéric Herman quickly went there to hold a public discussion with the activists. It was concluded that the latter will be able to remain in the premises until Monday, “without repression” from the university “as long as the demonstrations remain peaceful”.
A general meeting of the group is planned for Monday evening in the presence of the rectorate, which will provide its responses to the demands.
This blockage comes as the first in a series of two public courses on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was held on Thursday evening, in another Unil building. These two courses were contested by two associations (read 2nd box).
>> Robin Baudraz’s explanations in Forum:
Swiss universities accused of “complicity”
“Our action is spontaneous and has no leader or leader,” they explain in a press release sent to the media. “The people occupying the university building refuse to be complicit in the colonial genocide perpetrated by the Israeli apartheid regime. We call on everyone to join us and for members of other universities and colleges to mobilize as well!”
In Switzerland too, universities and colleges “participate in the carnage” through “multiple agreements between our institutions which allow and encourage mobility from or to Israel”, they believe, citing in particular the scientific and technological research consortium EuroTech Universities Alliance, of which EPFL is a member but also the Israeli Technion institute, which maintains close links with the Israeli army.
Comparison with reactions to the invasion of Ukraine
Activists believe that these Israeli universities participate in the “legitimization of the apartheid regime and the perpetuation of colonization and oppression”. “Far from being bastions of democracy and critical thinking, these institutions maintain close ties, often financial, with the occupying army”, with research “deliberately oriented towards the arms industry”, write -they still in the press release.
They therefore ask, among others, the University of Lausanne to develop a list of ongoing collaborations with Israeli institutions, their immediate interruption until Israel respects a permanent ceasefire and international law, or a “proactive policy of welcoming and supporting Palestinian students and researchers, similar to what was put in place following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army”.
>> Details from Thibaut Clémence in the 7:30 p.m.
jop
