Two weeks have passed and the student movement in North American universities against the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip continues. More than two thousand people have already been arrested and the confrontation between protesters and authorities has escalated.
What are the reasons for the protest? Have the demonstrations really been violent? And just months away from the presidential elections that once again pit Joe Biden against Donald Trump, how are the candidates positioning themselves? We answer all questions in this article.
But there is a brief clue regarding the last one: Trump calls these protesters “radical left lunatics” and Biden says that “there is no right to cause chaos”.
What is certain is that the student movement has internationalized. From Canada to Australia, passing through Europe (but not yet in Portugal), students from several countries have joined the protest.
In France, the main facilities of the Parisian Sciences Po remained closed this Friday, as the French police sought to remove dozens of activists who occupied the school’s facilities the day before.
In turn, in Germany the police also removed pro-Palestinian protesters (around 300 people) gathered in front of Humboldt University, in Berlin.
Still in Europe, but in Switzerland, a hundred students occupied the entrance hall of the Geopolis building at the University of Lausanne late Thursday afternoon, demanding an academic boycott of Israeli institutions.
It was announced this Friday that Dror Or, an Israeli hostage of Portuguese nationality detained in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attacks on October 7, died. The announcement came from the family itself and was later confirmed by Israeli authorities.
Dror Or was 49 years old. His wife was killed in the attack, while two of his three children, aged 17 and 13, were kidnapped and later released in November under a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The Portuguese Government declared that it “very regrets” the death of the Portuguese-Israeli citizen, but says it does not have access to any further information (the body remains detained in Gaza) because the victim was treated “like an Israeli”.
Also this Friday, a Hamas leader, Hossam Badran, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of impeding efforts for any truce due to his statements to journalists.
While the mediators (Egypt, Qatar and the United States) of the truce proposal made at the end of April await a response, Badran reiterates that, despite the “positive spirit” with which Hamas approached this proposal, Netanyahu’s recent public statements (in which reiterated its intention to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip) “clearly aim to destroy any possibility of agreement”.
“Netanyahu has been an obstructionist in all previous rounds of negotiations. He frustrates ongoing efforts,” Badran said.
Other news
⇒ In a statement on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, stated that “too many journalists, most of them Palestinians”, died in the war in Gaza. “The year 2023 was one of the deadliest years for journalists in recent years”, he also said, promising to take measures in response to the repression of press freedom, “including sanctions and visa bans against those who commit abuses”.
⇒ The Colombian Government officially notified Israel about the rupture of diplomatic relations. President Gustavo Petro, a declared supporter of the Palestinian cause, points out reasons and even names: “Israel has a genocidal government and president”.
⇒ On the day that the Israeli Government ordered the reduction of all of Turkey’s economic ties with Gaza, five non-governmental organizations (which took Israel to the Supreme Court to demand that it facilitate access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip) considered it “unfounded ” the Government’s allegations that it “goes beyond its obligations” in this matter.
⇒ Finally, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, warned that a ground offensive by the Israeli army in the city of Rafah “could lead to a bloodbath”. “The WHO is deeply concerned”, he declared.
Tags: War day university students countries unite Netanyahus big mouth
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