Student protests against Israel are expanding all over Europe, and the police are dispersing many of them.
At the Free University in Berlin, police dispersed hundreds of students who set up a protest camp against Israel and formed a "human chain" in order to protest against Israel.
The students chanted slogans against Israel, as well as "Viva Palestine." The police dispersed the demonstration using force and even used pepper spray against the students.
Al Jazeera reporter Dominic Kane, who covered the student demonstration, expressed his public support for it. "The demands of the people were quite clear. Basically, they said it's time for Germany to take part in the global protest movement. They demand that the genocide that they say is happening in Gaza be stopped. They also say that students should not be banned from taking part in these demonstrations and that they should not lose their student status. Many students who participated in the protests feared this would happen."
President of the Free University in Berlin, Günter Ziegler said that "this form of protest is not aimed at creating a dialogue. The occupation of the grounds is not acceptable on the campus of the Free University in Berlin. We are available for academic dialogue, but not in this way."
The police broke up a student demonstration against Israel at the University in Amsterdam. The police also closed the area with metal barriers, and the students moved the protest to another site.
The university administration in Amsterdam issued a statement stating that "the war between Israel and Hamas has a great impact on students and individual staff members. We share the anger regarding the war and understand that there is an increase in protests. We emphasize that within the university, dialogue is the only answer."
Protest tents of students against the war in Israel were also set up in other countries in the last few days. In Finland, students set up protest tents outside the main campus building and demanded that the university sever ties with Israeli academic institutions. Protest tents against Israel were also set up at the various universities in Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain