Midweek Dispatch, June 10-12
Japan protests, Swedish & Spanish students escalate, Canadian encampment collaborate, Chinese students for Palestine, FU Brussels occupy, violence in California & more
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Belgium
Today, students at the Free University of Brussels occupied the office of the head of the university. We’ve posted a video of their occupation and will follow it closely.
Students at KU Leuven have produced a detailed report on their university’s research collaborations, investments and ties to the Israeli state. It’s an excellent example of the original investigative research and reporting being done by students worldwide.
Canada
For over a month, students across Canada have been living in encampments and protesting their universities’ complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
On Monday, 10 encampments across 14 universities1 issued a joint statement:
We announced our renewed commitment to escalation until out demands are met, only now, emboldened and strengthened by our unity. We commit to occupying and maintaining our spaces until we receive commitments to disclosure and divestment and not extended timelines with no guarantee of action.
China
Students across China are emerging from their college entrance exams (高考) holding Palestinian flags, including in Heilongjiang, Shandong, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces. In some videos, like one from Jiangsu Province, police immediately take the flag and escort students away. Other students have displayed the Palestinian flag publicly in Hubei and Hunan
We’ll soon post a compilation of videos from the provinces of Heilongjiang, Shandong, Guangdong, and Jiangsu on our Instagram.
Japan
Sophia University in Tokyo has denied its students’ requests to hold a protest on campus. University administration criticized students’ last protests for being “loud” and told them they were not allowed to hand out flyers. Sophians for Palestine has announced that they will proceed with their protests:
We plan to exercise our right to assembly on public grounds… after their denial [of the application to protest on campus] Sophia has left us with no choice. We will be protesting outside campus.
Spain
On Monday, a group of 40 students at the Universidad de Sevilla occupied an administrator’s office, demanding the university terminate all partnerships and academic ties with Israel. Students were unsatisfied with an earlier concession when the university said it would temporarily halt its relations with two Israeli universities alongside organizing assistance for Palestinian students.
Today, June 12, police forcibly removed 20 protestors who had been occupying buildings at Universidad de Santiago de Campostela. Students immediately gathered to occupy the town’s main square. They demand the university cut all ties with Israeli institutions and terminate research projects funded by Santander Bank.
Sweden
Yesterday, students from Gothenburg and Chalmers University attempted to attend a University of Gothenburg board meeting. Their goal was to share new information regarding an assessment of collaborations with Israeli universities, but were prevented from entering the room.
Seven students chained themselves together outside the board meeting and refused to move, demanding to be allowed to represent themselves at the meeting. The students were later removed by police.
United States
Two weeks ago, 112 students, 3 faculty members and 1 staff member at UC Santa Cruz were arrested by police in riot gear after weeks of peaceful protests. An additional 70 students were banned from campus several days later.
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund has now joined Palestine Legal in requesting that UC Santa Cruz remedy the university’s violations of its students and workers’ civil and constitutional rights.2
Two days ago, 3 new encampments sprung up at UCLA. Two previous encampments were subjected to incredible violence by both police and Zionist mobs, who threw fireworks and launched cans of pepper into the encampments, beat journalists and inflicted significant injuries on students.3 Video below is from independent journalist Anthony Cabassa and was posted on X May 2.
According to reporting from the Daily Bruin, police arrested approximately 25 protesters at the encampments, cleared tents and fired pepper bullets at a crowd later that night. A video circulating widely on social media shows a protestor being snatched by heavily armed law enforcement officers while they chant, “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”
There are additional updates from the United States, which we will include in our end-of-week dispatch.