Dozens of students staged a sit-in at the university to protest the decision not to explore partnerships with Israeli universities.
The Paris Institute for Political Studies (Sciences Po) has rejected demands from protesters to review its ties with Israeli universities, says its interim director Jean Basseres, prompting some students to say they would go on hunger strike in protest.
The decision came on Thursday after students at several French universities, including Sciences Po and Sorbonne University, blocked or occupied their facilities to protest Israel’s war on Gaza, following similar protests in the United States was.
“I have clearly refused to set up a working group on our relations with Israeli universities and partner companies,” Basseres told reporters after a town hall meeting with students and staff.
Dozens of students immediately began a sit-in inside the university to protest Basseres’ decision.
“A first student started a hunger strike in solidarity with the Palestinian victims, but above all in protest against the way Sciences Po oppresses students who want to show their support for Palestine,” said Hicham, a Sciences Po student demonstrator .
More students would join the hunger strike, he told reporters, demanding that university management agree to a public vote by its board to review partnerships with Israeli universities.
The town hall was one of the conditions given to Sciences Po students last week to call off their protests against the war in Gaza. Many had also asked the university to cut all ties with Israel.
Basseres said he was aware that the refusal to put together a working group to review relations with Israel could anger some protesters.
“I call on everyone to show responsibility,” he said, urging protesters not to disrupt exams scheduled to begin next week.
The elite political science university will work on how best to organize internal debates on contentious issues, Basseres said, adding that the university already has rules in place to review its partnerships.
“The last ties that should be severed are those between universities,” said Arancha Gonzalez, who heads Sciences Po’s School of International Affairs.
The 150-year-old university has been the scene of pro-Palestinian protests for several days. Some demonstrators blocked the entrances to the university, and tents were set up for a protest camp in the central courtyard.
Last week, scuffles broke out after hundreds of students showed up and police moved in when about 50 pro-Israel protesters arrived.
University authorities agreed to end all disciplinary proceedings against protesters, according to a message sent by Basseres to students and faculty.
After Israel and the United States, France is home to the world’s largest Jewish population and Europe’s largest Muslim community.