Pro-Palestinian activists given deadline to leave Berlin university

DPA
·2 min read
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators sit and stand in front of the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University. Activists have occupied rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University in support of the Palestinians and in protest against Israel. Soeren Stache/dpa
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators sit and stand in front of the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University. Activists have occupied rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University in support of the Palestinians and in protest against Israel. Soeren Stache/dpa

Activists who have been occupying rooms at a Berlin university in support of the Palestinians since Wednesday afternoon will be allowed to stay until Thursday evening.

The university's president Julia von Blumenthal said Humboldt University agreed to this after talks with students on Wednesday evening.

The university will tolerate the occupation until 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, said von Blumenthal. "We expect the occupiers to leave the building peacefully afterwards."

A discussion event will be organized beforehand on Thursday afternoon, which is to be attended by the activists, the presidential board and academics.

About 50 activists have occupied several rooms at the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University in support of Palestinians and in protest against Israel since Wednesday afternoon, the police and a dpa photographer estimated.

A further 250 to 300 young people demonstrated on the street outside.

A police spokesman said that they were in close consultation with the university. A university spokeswoman said that the situation was being monitored.

In a statement, the Student Coalition Berlin group accused Israel of "genocide" and "ongoing mass murders," saying the protest was about "unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people."

The activists had called on the university to accept their occupation and presence and to ban a police operation.

Alongside the Free University (FU) and the Technical University (TU), Humboldt University is one of the three major universities in the German capital.

An occupation of rooms at the FU by the group Student Coalition Berlin was recently cleared by the police.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators place handwritten posters on the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University window. Activists have occupied rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University in support of the Palestinians and protest against Israel. Soeren Stache/dpa
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators place handwritten posters on the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University window. Activists have occupied rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University in support of the Palestinians and protest against Israel. Soeren Stache/dpa
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators look out of the roof windows of the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University. Activists have occupied rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University in support of the Palestinians and in protest against Israel. Soeren Stache/dpa
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators look out of the roof windows of the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University. Activists have occupied rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University in support of the Palestinians and in protest against Israel. Soeren Stache/dpa