Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Protests are seen as a domino effect of similar mobilizations in the United States,
00:05sparked of course by Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza.
00:09Let's take a listen in to one of the protesters.
00:12We have hundreds of people coming, new faces that we've never seen before
00:16and people really mobilized and the professors as well.
00:18So I think it's our responsibility as academics, as students
00:22to act when international law is not respected,
00:24specifically in Palestine when it hasn't started 75 years ago.
00:28It's been an issue that exists in our society that we need to talk about
00:32and when a genocide is happening,
00:33we as students in international relations and political sciences, we cannot stay silent.
00:39Well, let's cross directly to Sciences Po now,
00:41where France Uniforce's Shirley Sitbon is standing by for us.
00:45Shirley, paint us a picture of what's happening there on the Paris campus.
00:51Well, now there are various speeches.
00:53A few minutes ago, the students voted to maintain the sit-in
00:57and to maintain the blockage of courses and exams in Sciences Po
01:03because management, the director of the university,
01:07did not accept all of their conditions.
01:09Some conditions were met, like for example,
01:11holding a minute of silence for the victims of Gaza, of the bombardments in Gaza,
01:16which protesters here call genocide, not war, they say.
01:19It's not war, it's genocide.
01:21But the university has refused to cut all ties with all Israeli academics,
01:25which is a condition that students here say is central.
01:30They want a clear condemnation of Israel and the war that's going on now in Gaza
01:35because they say it's genocide.
01:36And if you do not condemn it clearly, it means you are an accomplice.
01:41And they believe that the role here is to speak out, put pressure.
01:46And now they say, now that they voted to maintain the sit-in,
01:49they say that they're expecting police to come in at any time
01:53because they say that management said,
01:54well, we feel free now to call police to evacuate you from the area
01:57because we believe that courses should be held and that exams should take place.
02:01And on Twitter, there's a right-wing student organization
02:05that said that it is opposed to the sit-in happening right now.
02:09And tell us a bit about what you've been hearing from the students
02:13and political leaders who are present as well.
02:18Yes, well, the students who are here are extremely optimistic about their movement.
02:23They say that, well, they feel that this will start something.
02:26There's a close connection between Columbia University and Sciences Po.
02:31And they believe that now they will start a wave in universities across France
02:35and across Europe, similar protests.
02:38That's what they hope for, getting thousands of thousands of protesters
02:42and to block universities.
02:43But other people are not as optimistic about the protest
02:47and the possibility of blocking many universities.
02:51Several MPs from France's Unbowed Party, the left-wing party,
02:55some say extreme left party, are here.
02:58They say that there is a lot of anger among French youths and students,
03:02but many are afraid to protest because they do not want to be detained by police,
03:07being questioned, having some kind of police record.
03:10So they say they're not as optimistic.
03:13Rima Ahsan, who is kind of the star of this protest
03:16against what is happening in the Middle East.
03:20She's a politician.
03:21She's a candidate for the European election.
03:24And she has come here to voice support for the students who are here.
03:28She says, everyone is asleep in this country, in this continent, in the world.
03:33But you, the students of Sciences Po, you are awake.
03:36You understand.
03:37And we're so proud of you.
03:38We heard similar words from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the head of that party.
03:44So yes, they got backing from that side of the political spectrum,
03:49a movement that becomes also very political.
03:51All right, France 24's Shirley Sipon reporting for us there.
03:54Thank you very much, Shirley, for that update.