Above photo: Reuters.
The massive pro-Palestine movement sweeping US colleges has quickly spread worldwide.
More European college campuses have erupted in protest over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, as the massive pro-Palestine movement at US universities continues to inspire students worldwide.
Clashes with police and arrests have taken place as campuses in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Austria broke out this week.
Hundreds of protesters resumed a demonstration at the University of Amsterdam on the evening of 7 May, a day after Dutch riot police stormed the protest site and violently cleared out their encampment.
According to a police statement, 169 people were detained on Monday evening and early Tuesday at the University of Amsterdam.Â
Dozens also occupied a lecture hall at a university in the German city of Leipzig on Tuesday, carrying banners that read “University occupation against genocide.” Police were called in, and a criminal complaint was filed by the university. While no arrests were made, criminal proceedings have been filed against 13 protesters suspected of trespassing.
A protest at the Free University of Berlin was cleared out by German police that day.
Arrests were also made at Sciences Po in the French capital of Paris on Tuesday after police dispersed protesters barricading themselves at one of the university’s halls.
In Switzerland, protests have spread to universities in Lausanne, Geneva, and Zurich, and in Austria, dozens remain camped out at Vienna University since last week.
Universities in Australia and Canada have also witnessed large-scale mobilization in support of Palestine.
Protests on US college campuses have persisted despite heavy police repression and violent pro-Israeli counterprotests.
On Tuesday, 30 April, a group of Israel supporters attacked the pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA. The counterprotesters attacked students with sticks, spraying them in the face with chemicals, and launching fireworks as weapons, a New York Times (NYT) investigation published on 4 May showed. Attacks on the encampment continued for nearly three hours before police arrived.