In a statement released this Friday, the University of Lisbon (UL) justifies the use of police to stop student protests on its premises by the need to “restore the safety of goods, equipment and people.”
“We have always valued the free expression of ideas and community involvement in matters that affect us all. In the face of practices and behavior that seriously jeopardize the safety of people and property and, as a consequence, the proper functioning of the University of Lisboa and its schools, It is our responsibility to put an end to this initiative,” the institution states.
Students from Portuguese universities and high schools, associated with movements such as the Student Climate Strike and Students for Justice in Palestine, have been protesting since Tuesday against the UL Psychology Department, which also houses the Institute of Education.
According to the statement, “the management of the two ULisboa schools (…) initially advocated the coexistence of the protest demonstration. [pelo fim da guerra na Faixa de Gaza e dos combustíveis fósseis] with the development of planned educational activities.”
However, on Thursday afternoon, “alarming situations began to arise with destruction of property, graffiti and security threats as a result of the removal and breaking of locks leaving easy access to parts of the building where laboratories, administrative services, management offices and classrooms are located.”
Considering that “the ease of access to personal and academic records, laboratory and technological materials, documents and property poses an unacceptable risk” and that “a significant proportion of the protesters” did not belong to the community of the two countries, schools, “the rector of the University of Lisboa and the directors The Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Education demanded the intervention of the authorities.”
Representatives of the student protest told the Lusa news agency this Friday that eight people were detained on Thursday evening and the rest were forced to leave the site by the PSP, which did not comment on the incident.
The movements called for occupation in conjunction with student protests that began on North American campuses and spread to universities in several European cities, Canada, Mexico and Australia, demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza war was sparked by an attack on Israeli soil by the radical Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and captured two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
The offensive launched by Israel in retaliation has since killed nearly 35,000 people, according to Hamas, which has ruled the small Palestinian enclave since 2007.