Support from lecturers and no arrests as Spanish students rally for Gaza
By Graham Keeley | 8 May 2024 | Al Jazeera
▻https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/8/support-from-lecturers-and-no-arrests-as-spanish-students-rally-for-gaza
Madrid, Spain – Huge Palestinian flags are hanging on campuses across Spain as thousands of students protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Some classes have stopped this week as students demonstrate in Barcelona, Valencia, the Basque Country and Madrid.
Across Europe, similar sit-ins have taken place at universities in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark and Germany, as young people join their United States peers who are facing a violent police response.
In Amsterdam, police arrested about 125 activists as they broke up a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Amsterdam on Tuesday. Dutch police said their action was necessary to “restore order” after protests turned violent. There were no reports of injuries. Footage aired by national broadcaster NOS showed a mechanical digger smashing down barricades and tents.
But in Spain, a country that historically supports the Palestinian cause, police have so far not been involved in trying to break up the protests.
“We have to show we care. We have to take a stand against what is happening in Gaza and the way Israel is acting,” Maria Angeles Lopez, 21, a psychology student, told Al Jazeera outside the University of Barcelona.
“If students here and elsewhere show we don’t agree with what is happening, then perhaps it will make people in power think again.”
In many Spanish universities that have witnessed protests, more than 2,000 lecturers have come out in support of the rallies.
Scholars at the University of Malaga are also expected to start demonstrating on Wednesday. (...)
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