Far-left pro-Palestinian student activists blockaded the entrances of the Sorbonne University in Paris on Monday following similar attempts last week to shut down the elite Sciences Po research university.
Following the example of activists in the United States at top universities such as Colombia in New York City and Harvard University, pro-Palestinian leftists set up a makeshift blockade of the entrance to the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris, preventing other students from attending class and forcing the cancellation of exams.
Around 150 activists gathered and erected tents outside of the entrance with a large Palestinian flag placed in the centre while signs read: “Israel assassin, Sorbonne complicit” and “Don’t look at us, join us,” Le Figaro reports.
National Rally candidate for the European Parliament, Matthieu Valet commented: “These far-left activists want to make France a lawless zone. Bravo to the police officers who evacuated these activists from the disorder by force.”
“We are here following the appeal of students from Harvard and Columbia,” Lorélia Fréjo, a student activist of the Le Poing Levé (the raised fist) told the AFP. “After the actions at Sciences Po, we are here to ensure that it continues.”
Last week, dozens of radical students blockaded the Sciences Po research university in Paris, demanding a debate on the conflict in Gaza and the lifting of the suspension of other activists.
The blockade, enacted by around 200 activists, ended on Friday as the leadership of the university bowed to their demands, in what has been described as an act of “capitulation” as an American-style town hall on Palestine was agreed to and no sanctions were levied against the student activists.
Demonstrators locked inside the perimeter at the Sorbonne university students rally against President Emmanuel Macron s stance on the situation in Gaza as part of his speech at the institution in Paris, France on April 25, 2024. (Photo by Victoria Valdivia / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by VICTORIA VALDIVIA/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
On Monday outside the Sorbonne, the activists were reportedly joined by National Assembly member Louis Boyard of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party, which has been the principal political backer of the pro-Palestinian movement in France.
The leader of the LFI in the French parliament, Mathilde Panot, defended the actions at Sciences Po, saying on Sunday that “to be heard, you sometimes have to blockade”.
Panot, who faced questioning by police last week for allegedly making an “apology” for terrorism, added: “I will support them as many times as they do it, and we will be there every time the people move to support the equal dignity of human beings.”
Students shout slogans and display a giant Palestinian flag as they take part in a rally in support of Palestinians at the Sorbonne University in Paris on April 29, 2024. (Photo by Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP) (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)
On the other hand, recently-installed French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal condemned the actions of a “minority (of students) agitated by political forces, notably La France Insoumise (of) seeking to disrupt the functioning of this institution.”
Attal, who attended Sciences Po for his graduate degree, added: “There will never be a right to blockage, never any tolerance with the action of an active and dangerous minority which seeks to impose its rules on our students and our teachers.”
“For there to be a debate, the rules must be respected, respect for each other’s positions must be permanent, this is not what we saw,” Attal continued, adding: “I will not accept it he added, vowing to “maintain absolute vigilance… on respect for the values of the Republic and the law .”
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