Students of the University of Seville (USA) This Monday, May 13, they will start camping in support of the Palestinian people and to demand the end of Israel's military offensive, a measure that had a controversial prologue this Friday due to the closure of the university space in the rectorate where the meeting was held would take place in which these measures would be announced. What happened has been interpreted by the organizers as an action of “complicity in the repression of the pro-Palestinian movement and thus support for the genocide”, while the university has claimed that the use of this space was not requested ” as always.” is required” and that he was aware of the call through social networks, without knowing who the conveners were.
The event itself was the first inter-university meeting in the city, promoted by the Hispalense Solidarity with Palestine platform (PalestineUSA) in collaboration with students from the Pablo de Olavide University (UPO). The meeting was eventually held in front of the rectorate and it was reported that next Monday, May 13, the students will join the train of national and international mobilizations with a collective camping trip. In Andalusia, these types of protests are already taking place in Granada and Malaga.
Spokespersons for the students have indicated that they realized that 'something strange' was going on when, around three o'clock in the afternoon, security at the Rectorate (the meeting was to be held in the Patio de la Fuente of the old Factory of Tobacco) closed the main door and all access to the place. The situation led the Palestinian American collective to “condemn the Rectorate's expression of its determination to prevent students' right to assembly,” interpreting this as an “act of censorship.”
Given the impossibility of accessing the Patio de la Fuente, it was decided to move the event to a “secret place” announced only five minutes before the celebration on Friday afternoon and thus “avoid possible leaks”. The place finally chosen was the door of the Rectorate itself, where, according to the organizers, about 400 students were present, who had the presence of teachers as a sign of solidarity.
First camping trips
At the meeting the read a manifesto, announcing the start of camping in support of the Palestinian people from Monday, May 13 at the University of Seville. With this action, the students of the US and the UPO will join the wave of those already celebrated throughout the national territory.
The purpose of these actions is to publicly denounce Israel's “genocide” against Palestine, “point out the complicity of our universities, the Spanish government and the parliamentary parties” with what is happening and to call for the “total break” ” to demand. of academic and commercial ties with Israel. The university students want, among other things, that the executive branch should end the arms trade with that country, promote internationalist solidarity and stop repression against pro-Palestinian movements.
For its part, the University of Seville emphasizes that the space planned for the meeting “was not formally requested” for its use. Likewise, he points out that members of the government team met on Friday morning with representatives of the Palestine Collective to inform them that the University of Seville “is ready to (together with the organizers) “the transfer of the use of a to study space that allows the celebration of the meeting and the ordinary development of academic and institutional activities.”
Criticism of the rectors' ruling
In a statement, the academic institution also emphasized that, “in light of the very serious events currently taking place in the Gaza Strip,” it stands by the Gaza Strip's statements. Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) and by the Association of Public Universities of Andalusia (AUPA). In this sense the Andalusian rectors support severing ties with Israeli universities that are not “committed to peace”.
A position that the Sevillian students consider in their manifesto as an accumulation of “several empty words” that do not meet their demands. “We see nothing but hypocrisy in their peace declarations by not completely severing relations with the genocidal state of Israel, both academically and economically,” they denounced.