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00:00 Meanwhile, outside the United States, a growing number of students in Europe and across the
00:04 Middle East are holding pro-Palestinian protests as well, many inspired by the wave of activism
00:09 on U.S. campuses.
00:12 France has been the epicenter of a series of high-profile demonstrations, with students
00:16 staging sit-ins or occupying administrative buildings at elite campuses from Sciences
00:21 Po to the Sorbonne.
00:23 We're going to look at this now with France 24's Doug Herbert, who joins me on the set.
00:26 Doug, first of all, let's talk about these student protests in Europe, where some have
00:30 also been met with police crackdowns.
00:32 Absolutely.
00:33 You know, two of the highest profile protests have been at what are seen as elite universities
00:37 here.
00:38 You mentioned them, two of them.
00:39 Sciences Po, based here in Paris, but with campuses around France, which have seen similar
00:45 types of protests and sit-ins, and also at the Sorbonne.
00:47 I don't need to tell our viewers about the Sorbonne.
00:49 It's perhaps, you know, the historic hub of intellectualism in France, historically elite
00:54 university.
00:55 Doug and the Prime Minister Gabriel Attal both went to where Emmanuel Macron gave a
00:58 big speech last week on his vision of Europe.
01:04 So what's interesting here is the Sciences Po protests were actually cleared by police.
01:08 The students had been blocking the campus.
01:10 The police moved in last week.
01:13 So we're going back about seven days.
01:16 And that action by the police sort of touched off similar protests or intensified protests,
01:22 which had been simmering at other French campuses.
01:25 So I mentioned the Sorbonne.
01:27 Earlier this week on Monday, the police stormed in, about several dozen police officers stormed
01:33 into a courtyard in the Sorbonne where the students had been staging, as you said at
01:37 the top, sit-ins.
01:39 And what it really is, is these are, I won't call them copycat protests in the U.S. because
01:44 they obviously have their own particularities.
01:47 But in a sense, they are taking a cue from the U.S. protests.
01:51 And in many cases, we often see that.
01:52 The U.S. campuses have historically, traditionally been hotbeds of student activism, student
01:58 protest.
01:59 So it's not surprising that it would have started in the U.S. and then spread to Europe.
02:04 But obviously, the intensity is not on the same level, perhaps, here in Europe as it
02:08 has been in the United States, where, as you know, we heard Wasim reporting, there have
02:12 been some pretty violent clashes at times between police and protesters.
02:16 And can we see a difference between the U.S. protests and what's happening in Europe or
02:19 even other countries, for example, Canada or Australia?
02:22 I would say it's interesting because I think there are differences in the intensity and
02:26 the tone, as I was just saying.
02:27 In the U.S., the entire idea of these pro-Palestinian protests and also alongside them, smaller
02:34 pro-Israel protests, they've taken on an even sharper tone, given the fact that Middle East
02:40 policy, Joe Biden's policy in the United States, it's very dogmatic.
02:45 It is an extremely flashpoint issue.
02:47 It has been historically for the past several decades in the U.S., this unconditional U.S.
02:53 backing and support for Israel, which has been echoed in varying various ways by most
02:58 of Europe.
02:59 That unconditional support in the new generation of students there has not, many of them feel
03:03 like they don't quite understand it.
03:05 What is behind?
03:06 Why is Joe Biden and his administration and the Democrats, why are they willing to go
03:10 out unconditionally and support Israel?
03:12 There's a sense of it's a new generation.
03:14 They don't have the same, perhaps, historical perspective.
03:16 It hasn't been really laid out or explained well enough to them.
03:19 Hence, you see this extremely sharp tone.
03:21 Plus, you have, let's face it, a more militaristic culture, especially when it comes to police.
03:27 Some of those violent images is almost a clash waiting to happen, if you will.
03:30 You have activist students on a very hot flashpoint volatile issue.
03:35 You don't get too much more volatile than Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
03:38 And then police forces in some of these states where you often have either right-wing governors,
03:43 right-wing politicians who are very much campaigning on issues of law and order, police cracking
03:48 down.
03:49 I'll just note that Donald Trump himself, the presumptive Republican nominee now on trial
03:53 in New York, is basically called the police crackdown a beautiful thing.
03:58 That gives you a sense of how much this has polarized these issues.
04:02 Doug, thank you for that.
04:03 That's Friends 24's Doug Herbert.