Middle East. FCUP cancels classes in building with protesting students
The direction of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP) informed that there will be no classes this morning in the building occupied by students in protest against the maintenance of relations between the academy and Israel.
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País Porto
In a statement at 00:05, the management informs that due to the "occupation of part of the facilities" of the Department of Computer Science (DCC) on Monday, that part of the building "will be closed in the morning".
"Thus, no academic activities, including classes or evaluations, will take place inside the FC6 building until the management of FCUP gives new instructions. Until then, access to the building will not be allowed", reads the statement signed by the director of DCC, Alípio Jorge.
At the end of the fifth day of protests, inside the faculty, namely in the corridors, stairs and in at least one of the rooms, about 25 students remained, in a scenario that, if it continues until morning, makes the normal course of classes impossible.
The occupation of the space occurred after the arrival of five PSP agents to the building, called by the director of the faculty after the last meeting with the students had failed in an attempt at an agreement, on the part of the students, for a split of the academy with the State of Israel, and, on the part of the faculty, for them to leave the gardens where they have been protesting since Thursday.
About a hundred people were still gathered in the garden of FCUP at 00:00 today, protesting against the maintenance of relations between the academy and the State of Israel.
The protest had its first moment on May 08, when about fifty students demanded before the UP rectorate the breaking of relations between the academy and the State of Israel.
On Wednesday, the students gathered at the Faculty of Fine Arts and decided to continue the protest at the Faculty of Sciences, where they set up camping tents to shelter at night, surrounded by Palestinian flags, candles and banners with phrases such as: "Proletarian solidarity for a Free Palestine", "Israel is not a democracy, Israel is a terrorist country" and "The revolution starts here".
The action is part of the international student protest struggle that began in North American universities and has already spread to higher education institutions in several European cities, Canada, Mexico and even Australia, demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the attack by the Hamas Islamist group on Israeli soil on October 07, 2023, which caused around 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to the Israeli authorities.
In response, Israel launched a large-scale military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has already caused over 35,000 deaths, mostly civilians, according to local authorities controlled by Hamas, and left the enclave in a serious humanitarian crisis.
Read Also: Middle East. About 100 students continue to protest at FCUP (Portuguese version)
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