Should we put an end to partnerships with certain Israeli universities? In any case, this is what students from several French faculties are demanding (as was done in two Belgian and Italian establishments). To put pressure on the management of a campus of the Panthéon-Sorbonne University, for more than a month some students have been blocking access to their classrooms. A report by Tom Malki.
It’s a discreet blockage. Students continue to enter their building, rue de Tolbiac, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, but the elevators and stairs providing access to the classrooms are condemned. Ilyes has a keffiyeh attached to his pants. He is one of the blockers, who are demanding an end to partnerships with two Israeli universities. “ In fact, the cessation of these partnerships would just impact the transfer of knowledge which is put in place between the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as the University of Tel-Aviv, the second largest university with whom we have a partnership. But stopping these partnerships would have no impact on Israeli students who are already present at the university. »
After several weeks of mobilization, a delegation of student blockers was received by management. Aywan was one of them. “ Regarding partnerships with the university, they told us that for them, it was inconceivable to stop them. »
The other main demand: the end of partnerships with French companies involved in the sale of military equipment. “ Companies like Thalès and Safran, which have links with the university because they finance masters and as a result, we asked them to stop that, explains Aywan. In fact, we didn’t want them to send work-study students or arms companies that literally deliver weapons to Israel who allow this genocide to be accepted in our university, we found that inconceivable. And it’s true that at the moment, on this subject, even them, we really felt overwhelmed. »
Mobilized students victims of far-right violence
Several mobilized students were victims of violence. “ When we arrived, there was Cocarde, which is a far-right union. He didn’t just come to tow. There was also a security service with them who came with umbrellas, with protective gloves and as a result, there were clashes, exclaims Julie, a mobilized student. We had a friend who had a double dislocation of the shoulder, we had another friend who had a strain and a small sprained wrist. »
Voices were raised in a forum against the blockage. One of the authors explains this initiative, after speaking on the phone with campus management. “ I was elected as a student, so that’s why I was often contacted by students who asked for classes to resume. Because there are more and more students who are dropping out of school, in difficulty, she indicates. We wanted to write a forum to express the fact that we wanted to reestablish exchanges and maintain our partnerships. Because for us, it seems essential to exchange with everyone and with all the students in the world, whether they are Palestinians, Israelis, French. »
For a week, the UNEF student union has confirmed repeated blockages on several Parisian campuses, driven by the same demands.
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