Police clear pro-Palestinian protests at Sorbonne university in France

PARIS: Police moved in to clear dozens of protesters who had set up tents in a courtyard at the Sorbonne University in Paris on Monday (Apr 29) to protest against the war in Gaza, students there said.

The demonstration took place three days after protests at the capital's elite Sciences Po university and came in the wake of rallies on campuses across the United States against the conflict.

"We set up tents ... like in several US universities," Sorbonne student Louis Maziere said. "We're doing all we can to raise awareness about what is happening in Palestine, about the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

"Police then came running in, brought down tents, grabbed students by the collar and dragged them on the ground, that's not OK... We're quite shocked," he said.

Fellow student Lou said: "What we're pushing for is peace and they answer with force and violence."

BFM TV showed footage of police dragging a couple of students out.

A police source confirmed they had intervened to clear out the Sorbonne's courtyard.

"This operation, which lasted only a few minutes, was carried out peacefully without incident," the source said, declining to respond to questions on how the students had been removed.

PROTESTS AT ELITE 'SCIENCES PO'

The university, one of the world's oldest, closed its buildings for the day during the peaceful protests. Students chanted 'Free Palestine' and urged the institution to condemn Israel.

The Sorbonne occupies a unique place at the heart of French public and intellectual life. Last week President Emmanuel Macron chose it as the venue to deliver a speech on his vision of Europe ahead of elections for the European Parliament in June.

Last week protests broke out at another elite university in the French capital region, the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, which counts Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni.

Tensions had broken out on campus as pro-Palestinian students inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States sought to occupy an amphitheatre.

On 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.

The protest ended peacefully when students agreed to evacuate the building late on Friday. The head of Sciences Po said an agreement with students had been reached.

Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza and mounted an air and ground assault in which 35,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.

Israel's actions came in response to an attack on southern Israel on Oct 7 by militants of the Palestinian group Hamas in which 253 people were taken hostage and about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies.

Several French politicians, including Mathilde Panot who heads the hard-left LFI group of lawmakers in the National Assembly, have urged supporters on social media to join the Sorbonne protests.