The Faculty of Sciences building at the University of Porto was closed after pro-Palestinian students occupied an apartment. Students who are prevented from studying criticize the protesters.
The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto closed, this Friday, at 12:13 a.m., the building where the Computer Science Department operates, normally open 24 hours a day. after being occupied by students in solidarity with Palestine.
A group of more than 50 students and activists occupied the IT Department on Thursday night, around 10:30 p.m., and shortly after they were informed that they could not remain inside and decided to concentrate outside that building.
However, at 12:13 a.m., the security guards closed the doors of that apartment “on superior instructions,” where inside There were more than 10 students studying who had to leave the spacefound Lusa on the spot.
At the door, those students protested and regretted the decision to be deprived of their place to study, criticizing and accusing the protesters for what happened.
Outside, where there were Palestinian flags surrounded by candles and tents, banners spread on the ground read: “Proletarian solidarity for a free Palestine,” “Israel is not a democracy, Israel is a terrorist country,” and “The revolution begins here.” . .”
More than 50 students and activists from civil society movements They have been, since Thursday night, gathered in front of the IT Department in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Middle East. Dozens of pro-Palestinian students occupy the faculty of the University of Porto
The protesters demand that the University of Porto “immediately sever all relations it maintains with Israeli institutions and companies and officially condemn the current genocide in Palestine.”
In statements to Lusa, the spokesperson for the group of protesters, Joana Bernardes, stated that “it is necessary for the University of Porto to formally condemn the genocide that is taking place in Palestine.”
Joana Bernardes highlighted that the university continues to hold events, open classes and conferences where the Israeli ambassador to Portugal is present, which, in her opinion, is regrettable.
The student stated that the University of Porto has “alarming connections” with Israeli entities and companies, stressing that science “is not a neutral instrument, but a tool that States and other political and economic agents use to advance their objectives.”
The action is part of the International student protest struggle that began in North American universities. and has already spread to higher education institutions in several European cities, Canada, Mexico and even Australia, demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Observadora
