Pro-Palestinian activists have spread their blockades from the United States to French universities.
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied several provincial Institutes of Political Studies, (IEP) commonly known as Sciences Po, throughout France on Tuesday, with students blocking entrances to the research universities in Lyon, Menton, Rennes, and Strasbourg.
According to Le Figaro, the activists waved flags condemning Sciences Po research universities in France of being complicit in the supposed “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
Students at the Science Po in Rennes stacked chairs outside the gates of the university while waving Palestinian flags and a banner reading “Sciences Po Rennes supports Palestine.”
One woman at the demonstration said on social media that the student group “voted to block the IEP in support of the Palestinian people and in support of all the mobilized students, in the United States, at Sciences Po Paris etc.”
The leader of the “La France Insoumise” party in the French Parliament, Mathilde Panot, spoke out in support of the student blockades, saying people all over the world are “rising up.”
“They would like the genocide in Gaza to take place in silence. They failed. All over the world, people are rising up to denounce it, from Columbia to Sciences Pom,” Panot said.
“Glory to the youth who embody the honour of our country and the world! I am proud to speak out for peace and international law. No political attack and police or judicial intimidation will make us bend. A genocide is underway, it is our honour to denounce it tirelessly.”
The blockades in Europe come as students at universities across the United States continue to hold protests in support of Palestine.
The University of Southern California announced last week that it was canceling its main graduation ceremony after anti-Israel protesters were present on campus.
The ceremony was originally planned for May 10, 2024.
USC protesters became violent during the demonstration, leading to police “taking out their batons,” wrote conservative figure Collin Rugg.
