The university protests in favour of Palestine which have spread across US campuses have now reached Catalonia. Pro-Palestinian student organizations have called the first camp at the University of Barcelona for 6th, 7th and 8th May at the Raval campus, in the centre of the Catalan capital. The aim is to denounce the "complicity" of the university and the governments of Spain and Catalonia with Israel and demand an "end to the repression" of the movement that defends Palestine. This three-day camp, which is organized by the University Network for Palestine, the Universities with Palestine platform and the Student Committee of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, will begin on Monday 6th with an assembly, will continue on Tuesday with a press conference and a discussion in which they will present the arguments for the academic boycott. Finally, on Wednesday they will celebrate an extraordinary campus meeting on Palestine. It is expected that on Monday and Tuesday nights, participants will camp on the university campus itself.
🔴6, 7 i 8 de maig!
— Comunitat Palestina Catalunya (@Palestina_cat) May 3, 2024
⛺🇵🇸 Jornades contra el genocidi al poble palestí a la Universitat de Barcelona - Raval. pic.twitter.com/OkwR8QqBsD
Translation: "Protest days against the genocide of the Palestinian people at the University of Barcelona - Raval." - Comunitat Palestina Catalunya
Break off agreements with Israeli universities
Alys Samson Estapé, spokesperson for the Prou Complicitat amb Israel ("End complicity with Israel") platform, explained in statements on Catalan public television that the academic boycott that is being promoted from Catalan universities aims to end collaboration agreements and joint projects with Israeli universities, as they argue that these institutions are "part of the genocide", for example, through their work in developing weapons that are later used in the Gaza Strip. "If Israel can continue committing the crimes of apartheid, colonization, occupation and genocide, it is thanks to international relations and the complicity of institutions, companies and universities," the spokesperson pointed out.
This platform, together with the Palestinian Community of Catalonia, has since last October been holding weekly mobilizations to call for an end to Israel's offensive in Gaza and an end to the arms trade. Now, the explosion of mobilizations at American universities, which have brought the campuses to a standstill, has encouraged the students mobilizations around the world, and despite the fact that Catalonia has not yet seen encampments or protests on this scale, it can be expected to increase in the days ahead.