Paris students end Gaza protests after university agrees to ‘debate’ Israel ties
Inspired by encampments on US campuses, pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash with counterprotestors, block access to Paris Institute of Political Studies building
Students at one of France’s most prestigious universities called off protests over the Gaza war on Saturday, following a series of street scuffles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups.
Inspired by anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian encampments at college campuses across the United States, students on Friday blocked access to a building at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, prompting administrators to move all classes online.
With exams scheduled to start soon, the university said on Saturday that the pro-Palestinian students agreed to call off their action in return for an “internal debate” about the university’s ties to Israel.
The pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protest kicked off a day of drama at the university, which counts French President Emmanuel Macron and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni.
Protesters first occupied a central campus building and blocked the entrance with trash cans, wooden platforms and a bicycle. They also gathered at the building’s windows, chanting anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian slogans, and hung out Palestinian flags and placards.
Later Friday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a tense standoff in the street outside the school. Riot police stepped in to separate the opposing groups.
As night fell, a dwindling group of pro-Palestinian protesters refused to budge, ignoring police orders to evacuate the street and warnings of possible arrests. Eventually, demonstrators came out of the building, carrying a large Palestinian flag, to cheers from the protesters who had been supporting them outside. They then started to stream peacefully away from the area, watched by police.
Among protesters’ demands was that Sciences Po sever ties with Israeli schools. In an email to students, Sciences Po administrator Jean Bassères pledged to hold a town hall meeting in the coming week and to suspend some disciplinary proceedings against students. In return, students “committed to no longer disrupting courses, examinations and all other activities of the institution,” the email said.
The Gaza war is sharply divisive in France, which has the largest populations of Muslims and Jews in western Europe. France initially sought to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations after Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. Antisemitism has surged.
On Wednesday evening, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters had also occupied a Sciences Po amphitheater. Most agreed to leave after discussions with management, but a small group of students remained. They were removed by police later that night, according to French media reports.
The university administration closed all university buildings and moved classes online Friday. It said in a statement it “strongly condemns these student actions which prevent the proper functioning of the institution and penalize Sciences Po students, teachers and employees.”
Louise, a protester, said the students’ actions were inspired by similar demonstrations at New York’s Columbia University and other US campuses.
“But our solidarity remains first and foremost with the Palestinian people,” she said. She spoke on condition that only her first name be used over concerns of repercussions.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war have been digging in at Columbia University, one of a number of demonstrations roiling campuses from California to Connecticut. Hundreds of students and even some professors have been arrested across the US, sometimes amid struggles with police.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
