NAt the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, in the center of Lisbon, protests are frequent, especially environmental ones and even involving camps on the ‘campus’. But in the last week, while North American and French universities were experiencing police interventions to break up camps or vacate buildings taken over by pro-Palestinian activists, academic life was going on normally on the Avenida de Berna ‘campus’.
“I think we should show our anger towards these situations [como a guerra em Gaza]but I don’t think that closing the college will make the situation change, especially because it’s not even in our country”, said student Ana Lourosa in statements to Lusa. The Portuguese Studies degree student also highlighted that the way in which Portuguese students speaking out can cause them to be “somewhat discredited”.
On October 7, the Islamist movement Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil. Israel responded with an offensive in the Gaza Strip, which caused tens of thousands of deaths.
Since April, North American universities, such as those in Columbia and California (UCLA), have registered a wave of protests in favor of Gaza, in which thousands of students have already been detained. These demonstrations of solidarity with Gaza inspired similar actions in France, at the Sciences Po institute, where the police also entered to remove dozens of activists.
Regarding the impact of the current protests, the students interviewed by Lusa argue that they send a political message and “certainly attract the attention of people who were not so aware”, as Diogo Lopes argued. The Nova student considers that what is happening at universities with the police “doesn’t make much sense”, saying that he saw images from the United States, in which agents acted aggressively and “armed as if they were going to deal with terrorists”.
The “esplanade students”, as they are called, call for participation in the demonstration for the Liberation of Palestine by the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC) on May 11th, in Lisbon.
Although there was no demonstration in the first week of May, the words painted on the terrace tables reveal some of the causes for which they give voice, such as “Free Congo, Free Sudan, Free Palestine” and “The 25th of April was born in Africa” .
People move without hindrance between the college buildings, while the terrace, characteristic of this institution, is full of students and teachers mingling.
For Amadu Sabali, a sociology student, “many people’s lives are being taken” in the Gaza Strip, the target of an Israeli offensive. “I think we need to stop and think about this issue,” she says. Among students, there is some apprehension about talking about the conflict in the Middle East, although those who pass by this street often see student protests with megaphones and posters, about the most diverse causes.
“Our faculty has always been a pioneer when it comes to demonstrations of social struggles. However, the fact that there are so many demonstrations, a while ago we had one to end the fossil, for example” could be the reason for not mobilizing on this issue , indicated Tiago Freitas, also a Portuguese Studies student.
Asmira Adelino Nhaga, a Communication Sciences student, attributes the lack of mobilization on the Gaza issue to “divergence”. “Some people are on the side of Palestine and others are on the side of Israel,” she stresses.
For Beatriz, a Philosophy student and member of the student association, it is difficult to say whether “there is enough student mobilization” to replicate the scenario in other countries, since Portugal’s political context is different and that the “US connection at the moment with the conflict is much more direct because of continued funding to Israel”.
“A pro-Palestine protest in the United States has a much more significant weight than a pro-Palestine protest anywhere in Europe,” said Pedro Fogueiral. Colleague João Correia corroborates: “obviously if France changes its position in the Palestine war, it is worth much more than Portugal”.
“When they do end-to-fossil camps there are a lot of Palestine flags, but I think it’s a fairly small group within the college,” said Maria Camões, Communication Sciences student.
“I think a lot of things are being confused,” a university professor, who did not want to be identified, told Lusa. Many young people are “poorly informed about this conflict and its history” and only a portion “are more or less aware of what is happening in the world, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, according to the teacher.
The professor also considers that the position of Hamas, the “surrounding Arab countries that have never recognized the Israeli state” and also the British and French – “the real culprits of what is happening in the Middle East” should be questioned.
The university grounds, marked by carnations painted on the walls, an exhibition about Salgueiro Maia and an armored vehicle from the Armed Forces parked outside the main building, celebrates the 50th anniversary of April 25th.
A time when the police entered universities as a way of silencing the voice of the academic community, which justifies the Portuguese aversion to what is happening in French and United States universities. Where, said the teacher, “it is easier for the police to enter and close it than it would be in Portugal”.
Read Also: Anti-war protests in Gaza erupt at US college graduation
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Tags: Students Lisbon support Palestinian reject occupations
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