University - Pro-Palestine protest - Lecture hall at FU Berlin evacuated
The police cleared out a seminar room at the Free University of Berlin (FU) occupied by Palestinian activists in the evening. The number of people brought outside was in the lower two-digit range, according to a spokesperson. The clearing, which was carried out at the request of the university management, was peaceful. It was initially unclear whether those people were participants in the protest camp at the FU that ended on Tuesday.
The university stated that a group of up to 30 people had gathered in seminar room 1A in the "Rost- and Silver Gallery" in the late afternoon. They had made unreasonable demands of the university - among them the immediate withdrawal of criminal complaints and the termination of the university's cooperation with universities in Israel.
Police requested clearing
The university management had offered talks but at the same time insisted that the people leave the seminar room. When the protesters declared that not all of them were ready to leave, the police were called in. The clearing was completed by 21:45. An report was filed against 27 people. The seminar room was accessible throughout, and there was damage to property.
On Tuesday, students dismantled their protest camp at the FU after 19 days. The university management had not responded to the protests and demands for "a free university and a free Palestine" by the camp participants. Therefore, they had decided to take down the tents, they announced at a press conference.
The camp was set up on June 20, according to the organizers, at the initiative of student groups of the Palestine Committee as an open protest camp. The goal was to create a space for critical discussions about the "genocide in Gaza and repression against student protest." This was successful. However, the university had not met the demand for a public dialogue.
- The Police requested the clearing of the seminar room due to the university management's request.
- The protestors, who were part of the demonstration at FU Berlin, refused to leave the seminar room despite the university's offer for talks.
- The FU Berlin, where the War of words and demands had been ongoing, saw a peaceful clearing of a protest camp in a lecture hall of the Free University.
- The Palestinian activists, who had set up a protest camp at FU Berlin's FU Berlin, faced consequences after making unreasonable demands, including the termination of the university's cooperation with Israeli universities.
- The FU Berlin, known for fostering critical discussions and a center of protests, faced a controversy following the police action at the Free University of Berlin's FU Berlin's campus.
