Lausanne Students End Night-Time Gaza Protest

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The night-time Occupation of the Géopolis building at the University of Lausanne ended on Wednesday evening, while a similar sit-in at the University of Geneva continues. The Lausanne demonstrators have vowed to continue mobilising against the war in Gaza.

The University of Lausanne (UNIL) management had set a condition for negotiations to continue, namely that the collective should vacate the building by 10 p.m. Wednesday, which they did, the institution announced. Discussions may continue, provided that the collective remains composed of members of UNIL or affiliated to UNIL.

The university is also demanding respect for the smooth running of research and teaching activities on campus, as well as for the integrity of people and infrastructure.

“The occupation continues,” announced the students, who had occupied the building since May 2.“We will continue to be present at Géopolis during the day and will never give up our demands,” they wrote in a press release.

+ University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave

During the day, the pro-Palestinian collective received a visit from parliamentarian Carlo Sommaruga of the left-wing Social Democrats. Sommaruga, who also chairs the Switzerland-Palestine parliamentary group, expressed his gratitude to the students for their mobilisation. He told news agency Keystone-SDA that the demand to“stop collaborating with Israeli universities is well-founded”.

UNIL should think about“collaborating with Palestinian and Israeli universities simultaneously on the same project,” he said.

In Geneva, representatives of the pro-Palestinian students who have been occupying the UniMail hall since Tuesday met members of the rectorate of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) on Wednesday. The demonstrators were granted the right to stay overnight.

The meeting with the rectorate was described as constructive by a student involved in the protest. Three members of the Student Co-ordination for Palestine-UNIGE (CEP-UNIGE) have been invited to take part in a scientific council meeting on Thursday to discuss the role of the university in public debates in general.

+ Read more: our coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian war

The demands of the pro-Palestinian students will be discussed at the meeting, CEP-UNIGE members told the media. In particular, the occupants are demanding the suspension of collaboration agreements between the UNIGE and Israeli universities and research institutes.

If the CEP-UNIGE were to take part in this scientific council, it would undertake not to occupy the hall at night. It would continue to do so only during the building's opening hours. The pro-Palestinian students would therefore be required to leave the building at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Professor Frédéric Esposito of the Global Studies Institute, who has been appointed mediator between the rectorate and the protesting students, noted that Wednesday's meeting between the two parties gave everyone an opportunity to state their positions.

According to Esposito, one point of discussion concerned a black banner hung by pro-Palestinian students bearing the phrase“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Some believe this message could be interpreted as a refusal for the state of Israel to exist.

The phrase is controversial because it is used by anti-Semitic groups, said Esposito. The rectorate would have liked the banner to be removed. But the CEP-UNIGE has promised to clarify the issue, he added. Contextualisation and explanations will be provided through a QR code and a flyer.

+ Swiss Jewish group concerned about university protests

The rectorate said it was satisfied with this explanation for the time being. The banner will therefore remain in place until further notice.

At the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the demonstrators' occupation was lifted at around 5.30pm on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the EPFL management held talks with the protesters. Both sides welcomed the courteous and even“constructive” dialogue, said EPFL President Martin Vetterli.

At the end of the meeting, the EPFL management maintained a firm position on its rejection of an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. For its part, the delegation of pro-Palestinian students considers that it has obtained“some concessions” and promises that“the movement will continue”. In particular, the EPFL has promised to carry out an in-depth analysis of its research agreements with Israeli institutions.

Adapted from French by DeepL/gw

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here , and if you have feedback on this news story please write to ... .

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

I consent to the use of my data for the SWI swissinfo newsletter.

This content was published on May 9, 2024 Around ten climate activists briefly blocked the A2 motorway near the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel on Thursday.

This content was published on May 9, 2024 Schumacher's family is auctioning off eight rare watches from his collection in Geneva. The Christie's auction will take place on Monday.

This content was published on May 9, 2024 St. Gallen singer Joya Marleen and Baschi from Basel were named artists of the year at the Swiss Music Awards 2024 on Wednesday night.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 The government notably wants to improve integration into the labour force, particularly for people with protection status S.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities worries that protests are taking on ideological and radicalised features.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 The presidents of Poland, Finland, and Latvia and the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium will be at the Swiss-hosted talks in mid-June.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 In the winter season up to April 2024, railway and cable car operators ferried 3% more visitors compared to the previous winter, and 5% more than the five-year average.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 As part of an international agreement with Austria, the Swiss government wants to pump CHF1 billion ($1.1 billion) into flood protection measures along the Rhine over the next three decades.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 After months of debate, Switzerland plans to give CHF10 million ($11 million) to the UN agency this year, rather than the CHF20 million initially foreseen.

This content was published on May 8, 2024 A study led by the Swiss Ornithological Institute in canton Lucerne is helping to better understand the movement patterns of migratory insects.

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at ... .

MENAFN09052024000210011054ID1108194989