Students from various universities in Paris gathered at the Sorbonne Square on Wednesday to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza.
They also gathered to commemorate the 76th anniversary of Nakba. It meant the forced expulsion of some 750,000 Palestinians during the war in 1948. It also refers to Israel’s continued harassment and displacement of Palestinians.
Protesters also criticised the French government’s stance on the Gaza conflict and demanded an end to the criminalisation of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Student committees organised the mobilisation following the evacuation of the Sorbonne university encampment last week. Police reportedly arrested 86 students.
We are here to confirm that the Nakba did not end yet and the Palestinians are still suffering because the war did not start on Oct. 7 but 76 years ago.
Members of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and the French National Railway Company (SNCF) also joined the mobilisation to support the Paris students.
Student protests have swept not only Europe. Earlier, US media reported that a Palestinian student who tried to interrupt a dinner party at the home of the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law accused the dean’s wife, Professor Catherine Fisk, of assaulting her.
Palestine-supporting students also camped out at the University of Winnipeg, Canada, according to Canadian media.
More than 35,200 Palestinians have been killed and over 79,000 injured since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Meanwhile, the Hamas offensive on October 7 last year killed about 1,200 people.
