Not just the pro-Palestine student protests in the US and Europe: here’s what’s happening in Arab universities

The student intifada also inflames Arab universities. The pro-Palestinian protests are in fact not limited to US or European universities but have also inspired university students from Arab countries, who in recent weeks have set up camps or organized demonstrations in their universities, sometimes in protest with their own governments. Most of the […]

The student intifada also inflames the Arab universities. The pro-Palestinian protests have not in fact been limited to US or European universities but have also inspired university students from Arab countries, who in recent weeks have set up camps or organized demonstrations in their universities, sometimes in protest with their own governments. Most of the protesters are calling for the boycott and divestment from Israeli companies or which are included in the list of those to be boycotted according to the Bds (i.e. the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel). From the Tunisia to the Lebanonfrom theEgypt at the Jordanpassing through theIraq the protests take place in a relatively calm environment but remain under the watchful eyes of governments, wary of public displays of discontent. Already in recent months, Arab governments, especially in Morocco and Jordan, have had to deal with strong protests calling for the breaking of diplomatic ties with Israel.

Tunisia – In recent weeks, hundreds of Tunisian students have demonstrated in the country’s universities in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against Israel’s war on Gazaresponding to the appeal of the two main student unions in the country, theGeneral Union of Tunisian Students (Uget) and theGeneral Union of Tunisian Students’ Union (Ugte). On May 2, Tunisian journalism students, after naming their campus in honor of Sherine Abu Akleh – a Palestinian journalist killed in the line of duty by the Israeli army in 2022 – forced the Manouba Institute of Press and Information Science to sever its ties with the institute of think tank German Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, accused of being “pro-Zionist”. The administration of the Tunisian institute immediately supported the student requests: “We, the staff and the professors, we share the same position. Since the beginning of this year, there have been partnerships with organizations that openly support Israel interrupted“, has explained Hamida El Bourpresident of the institute, to a local radio, adding that “this demonstration is legitimate because it supports the Palestinian cause.”

Jordan – In Jordan, students from several universities organized on April 30 in support of Gaza, following the group’s call Student Forum who, in a statement, explained that “what is happening in American universities is an unprecedented movement, in support of the Palestinian cause, of Gaza and of its resistance” born as “natural reaction to the crimes of the occupation, its killings and destruction in Gaza”. Students ask the Jordanian government to stop any form of normalization with Israel, to cancel the 1994 peace treaty and the gas import agreement and to close theIsraeli embassy in Amman. Already a strong mass movement had ignited the streets of Amman during the Islamic month of Ramadanmore precisely since March 24, when thousands of Jordanians protested in front of the Israeli embassy, ​​asking the Amman government to interrupt all relations with Tel Aviv, including the 1994 peace treaty. In that context at least 500 people they were arrested and the police violently repressed the protests. The current demonstrations at the universities have also involved faculty, staff and dozens of Jordanian academics who have issued a statement of solidarity with the students and academics of American universities: “We are in the fight against the global injustice that has deprived the right of a people to self-determination. This injustice must end, and global consciousness must return to deter the aggressor and support the oppressed,” the letter reads.

Lebanon – The Lebanese student protests, which began on April 30 and considered by local media as “the largest demonstration of student support for Palestine in Lebanon since October 7”, mainly affected the American University of Beirut and the Arab University of Beirut where hundreds of students demonstrated asking their universities to guarantee financial transparency and to divest from any Israeli-linked company. “Our hope as students is to influence and put pressure on states that support Israel. We can support the Palestinian resistance if we have specific goals in mind,” one of the students explained to the Arab newspaper The New Arab. In Lebanon, communicating or having ties with Israelis is illegal as the two countries are in state of war, but now students are also calling for a boycott of companies or entities that have ties to Israel. The American University of Beirut’s Student Revolt for Palestine instead released a statement outlining its demands, which include “the creation of a single democratic Palestinian state from the river to the sea.” The group also called on the Lebanese university to boycott the technology company HP, which, according to the statement, supplies technology to Israel.