Paris’s Sciences Po rejects protesters’ demand to review Israel ties
Al Jazeera
Dozens of students start a sit-in at university to protest decision not to review partnerships with Israeli universities.
The Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) has rejected demands by protesters to review its relations with Israeli universities, its interim director Jean Basseres says, prompting some students to say they would start a hunger strike in protest.
The decision on Thursday was made after students at several French universities, including Sciences Po and Sorbonne University, blocked or occupied their institutions to protest against Israel’s war on Gaza following similar protests in the United States.
“I clearly refused to set up a working group on our relations with Israeli universities and partner companies,” Basseres told reporters after a town hall meeting with students and staff.
Dozens of students promptly started a sit-in inside the university to protest Basseres’s decision.
“A first student has started a hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian victims but even more so to protest against the way Sciences Po is repressing students who want to show their support for Palestine,” said Hicham, a Sciences Po student protester.
