On Tuesday, May 7, German police broke up a protest by several hundred pro-Palestinian activists who had taken over a courtyard at Berlin's Free University (FU) earlier in the day, reports AP. This marks the latest such action by authorities as protests that have roiled campuses in the United States (US) spread across Europe.
A group of protesters had set up approximately 20 tents and had created a human chain around them.
According to AP, most of the protesters had covered their faces with medical masks and had draped keffiyeh scarves around their heads, shouting slogans such as “Viva, viva Palestina”.
Earlier on May 7, Dutch police arrested about 125 activists as they broke up a similar pro-Palestinian demonstration camp at the University of Amsterdam, reports AP.
Police in Berlin used loudspeakers to summon the students to vacate the campus. Additionally, a few students were seen being taken away by police, and altercations broke out between demonstrators and the police. A few of the demonstrators were attacked by police with pepper spray.
The school's administrators said in a statement that the protesters had rejected any kind of dialogue and they had, therefore, called in police to clear the campus, states AP.
“This form of protest is not geared towards dialogue. An occupation is not acceptable on the FU Berlin campus,” university President Guenter Ziegler said adding, “We are available for academic dialogue — but not in this way.” The administrators said a few protesters attempted to enter rooms and lecture halls at Free University to occupy them.
According to the university statement, the protest organisers, who claim to be composed of individuals and students from several Berlin universities, had invited additional professors and students to join in the action.
Following the demonstrations at US colleges, students in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France, and Britain have staged protests or established encampments in recent days, reports AP.
After protests got violent, Amsterdam police declared on the social media platform X that their intervention was "necessary to restore order”. No immediate reports of injuries were made.
