Pro-Palestine protests extend to Basel and Fribourg universities
The student pro-Palestine protests in Switzerland have spread. On Monday, premises at the universities of Basel and Fribourg were also occupied.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
The Fribourg occupiers announced in a statement that it was a peaceful demonstration. The group called for an “academic boycott” of all Israeli institutions and a ceasefire in the Palestinian territories. Approximately 100 people took part in the occupation, according to a correspondent for the Keystone-SDA news agency.
They also demanded that the University of Fribourg remove the plaque commemorating Chaim Weizmann in the Aula Magna auditorium and rename the Chaim Weizmann Conference which is organised by the Department of Chemistry. Weizmann, the first Israeli president, had studied in Fribourg. The conference has been held since 2009.
External Content
In Basel, students occupied the historic university building, the Bernouillanum. They also called on the University to “fulfil its responsibility” and suspend cooperation with Israeli institutions.
About 50 protesters gathered outside the building in the early hours of Monday afternoon, as a reporter from the Keystone-SDA news agency reported. Inside the building itself, there were about 30 people. The Rectorate will decide on further action on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the University of Basel said.
The student protests began last week at universities in Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich. On Sunday evening, rooms at the University of Bern were also occupied.
Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/mga
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Most Discussed
More
Debate
Hosted by:
Katy Romy
June 9 votes in Switzerland: how can healthcare costs be reined in?
On June 9, Swiss voters decided on two initiatives aimed at capping the cost of healthcare in the country. Have your say on the issue here.
Zelensky wants to ‘make history’ at Swiss peace summit
This content was published on
While Swiss President Viola Amherd spoke of modest objectives at the two-day Summit on Peace in Ukraine, her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky was more proactive, saying he wanted to make history.
US announces $1.5 billion aid for Ukraine at Swiss peace summit
This content was published on
US Vice President Kamala Harris has announced more than $1.5 billion in aid in part for Ukraine’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation.
Zurich Pride: Nemo plays first gig since Eurovision triumph
This content was published on
Swiss singer Nemo performed on Friday night at Zurich’s Pride Festival. It was the artist’s first concert since winning the Eurovision Song Contest last month.
Fireworks accident caused fatal explosion in Swiss car park
This content was published on
The explosion in an underground parking garage in Nussbaumen, northern Switzerland, on Thursday evening was caused by an accident involving fireworks.
This content was published on
All over Switzerland women took to the streets today: in several cities feminist associations called for demonstrations to assert their rights. Events scheduled for the strike were numerous.
Final guest list published for Swiss summit on peace in Ukraine
This content was published on
A total of 92 countries, including almost 60 heads of state and government, will be taking part in the Summit on Peace in Ukraine.
Zurich art museum to remove suspected Nazi-looted works
This content was published on
Spurred by a new set of best practices, works by Van Gogh, Monet and Gauguin, among others, will be removed from an exhibition.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.