Far from putting an end to the Palestine mobilization, the town hall debate held on Thursday, May 2, in the presence of 350 students, teachers and staff at Sciences Po in Paris resulted in a hardening of positions. In front of the building, Hicham, spokesman for the Palestine Committee at Sciences Po Paris, announced the continuation of the movement with a "peaceful sit-in" in the hall and the start of a hunger strike by a student at 2 pm, "in solidarity with the Palestinian victims."
"Other students will be joining her throughout the day" and they will continue until "an official non-anonymous vote is held by the institute's board on investigating partnerships with Israeli universities," said the master's student in human rights and humanitarian projects at the School of International Affairs.
On Thursday evening, six went on hunger strike, and a hundred students voted to occupy the campus. Following this decision, the administration of Sciences Po announced the closure, on Friday, of its main campus in Paris, in a message sent to employees. "The buildings at 25, 27, 30 Rue Saint-Guillaume and 56 Rue des Saints-Pères will remain closed tomorrow, Friday, May 3. We encourage employees to work from home," said the Human Resources department.
As the town hall drew to a close, students trickled out onto the sidewalk of Rue Saint-Guillaume, where shouts and slogans such as "Israel assassin, Sciences Po accomplice," chanted by some 50 members of the Palestine Committee, were heard. In the street, students hailed the debates as "calm" and "of good quality," despite a final "slip-up." Faced with a Jewish student who claimed to be anti-Zionist, the provisional administrator of Sciences Po reportedly said that his remarks were likely to "shock" other young people present. This statement provoked cries of disapproval from the student body. "The reaction of [Jean] Bassères was very clumsy," judged a journalism student, who did not wish to give his name.
"The debate was sometimes tough, often moving, and strong disagreements were expressed," Bassères told the press afterward. Displaying "the utmost caution," he called on "everyone to show a sense of responsibility" as the end-of-year exam session for some 15,000 students begins on May 6. "I refused the request for a working group to investigate our relations with Israeli universities and companies, reminding students that there is already a governance structure at Sciences Po that handles these matters. I know this will provoke a reaction," he added.
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