Pro-Palestine camp at USP lasted just 2 days

Students from USP (University of São Paulo) decided to close the pro-Palestine camp against Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. The decision was taken on Thursday (May 9, 2024) during the assembly.

The camp, set up on Tuesday (May 7), lasted just 2 days. It is the student movement’s first attempt to join the global pro-Palestine movement, inspired by initiatives that began in the United States and spread to several countries. In the US, however, participation was greater and some camps lasted more than two weeks before police forced them to vacate.

In addition to defending the end of the war in the Gaza Strip, USP students are calling for the end of the institution’s links with research centers and universities in Israel. The movement is also evaluating the holding of a consultation plebiscite on the topic.

The movement was installed in the courtyard of the History and Geography building of FFLCH (Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences), with around 25 tents, which were dismantled on Thursday (May 9).

Organized by ESPP (Committee of Students in Solidarity with the Palestinian People), the demonstration received support from Fepal (Brazilian Palestine Arab Federation), the São Paulo Palestine Front and the organization Sanaúd – Palestine Youth.

In a note, the FFLCH says that respect for free expression “it is a characteristic of the University of São Paulo and the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences”.

They also add that their board of directors “comes out to say that it sees as normal the exercise of the right to free expression by its teachers, students and employees, carried out between the 7th and 9th of May, which took place peacefully”.

During the demonstration, students carried signs that said “Lula, break all relations with Israel” e “Ceasefire in Gaza”. Furthermore, they opened a petition to break academic cooperation with the “Zionist, genocidal and racist state of Israel.”

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