French police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest by dozens of university students in Paris, officials said Thursday, as Israel鈥檚 bombardment of Gaza sparks a wave of anger across college campuses in the United States.
Police intervened as around 60 students gathered on a central Paris campus of the elite Sciences Po university on Wednesday evening, management said.
鈥楢fter discussions with management, most of them agreed to leave the premises,鈥� university officials said in a statement to AFP, saying the protest was adding to 鈥榯ensions鈥� at the university.
But 鈥榓 small group of students鈥� refused to leave and 鈥榠t was decided that the police would evacuate the site鈥�, the statement added.
Sciences Po said it regretted that 鈥榥umerous attempts鈥� to have the students leave the premises peacefully had led nowhere.
The protesters were demanding that Sciences Po 鈥榗ut its ties with universities and companies that are complicit in the genocide in Gaza鈥� and 鈥榚nd the repression of pro-Palestinian voices on campus鈥�, according to witnesses.
Many top US universities have been rocked by protests in recent weeks, with some students furious over the Israel-Hamas war and ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
France is home to the world鈥檚 largest Jewish population after Israel and the United States, as well as Europe鈥檚 biggest Muslim community.
