Pro-Palestinian university protests emerge in France, Australia and Mexico

May 3, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

Welcome back to World Brief, where we discuss pro-Palestinian university protests around the world, US and Russian troops sharing a Nigerian air base and emergency measures against floods in Kenya.

A global student movement

Pro-Palestinian student protests like those seen in the United States in recent weeks have begun to appear at universities around the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Mexico and the United Kingdom. In response, pro-Israel counter-demonstrations have also emerged in several places. Unlike in the United States, where more than 2,300 protesters have been arrested or detained on at least 49 university campuses since April 18, international protests have largely faced minimal police interference.

Hundreds of people gathered at the University of Sydney in Australia on Friday to urge the school to sever academic ties with Israeli universities and divest from weapons manufacturers, a similar demand from many American protesters. Vice-chancellor Mark Scott told local media on Thursday that the university’s camp, which was set up last week, could remain on campus in part because it has not experienced the kind of violence seen abroad and because “strongly held opinions and intense debates” are “part of who we are.” “Our instinct is never to preemptively shut down freedom of expression and debate and the right to protest,” he said.

(A report released Thursday by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a nongovernmental organization specializing in crisis mapping, found that despite “some notable violent clashes,” such as the one at the University of California, Los Angeles, where groups pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters fought back; 99 percent of protests in the United States have remained peaceful.)

Across the Pacific, dozens of pro-Palestinian students camped out Thursday at Mexico’s largest university to call on the Mexican government to sever diplomatic and trade ties with Israel. If Mexico City did so, it would become the fourth Latin American nation to cut diplomatic relations with Israel since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023. In Canada, Quebec Premier François Legault on Thursday ordered McGill University students to dismantle their camps after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “Jewish students do not feel safe” from protests. Demonstrations have also been reported at schools in Beirut, London, Rome and Tokyo.

Law enforcement has played an active role in quelling pro-Palestinian protests in France. Police entered Sciences Po University in Paris on Friday to expel students who had occupied campus buildings overnight; Reports indicate that the French protests have remained peaceful and eyewitnesses reported seeing no signs of violence as police removed students from Sciences Po buildings. The university closed its main campus on Friday and the school’s director, Jean Bassères, rejected demands to review Sciences Po’s relationship with Israeli universities. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s office said Thursday that student protesters had been “evacuated” from 23 higher education institutions across the country.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers are seeking to mitigate campus unrest through legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act by a vote of 320 to 91 as part of a bipartisan effort to end anti-Semitism on college campuses. This would be the first definition of anti-Semitism enshrined in US federal law and could allow the Department of Education to withhold federal funds from schools that do not restrict anti-Semitic statements.

But opposition from both sides of the aisle makes passage of the bill in the Senate uncertain. Some Republicans have argued that the bill would ban parts of the Bible by criminalizing the claim that “Jews killed Jesus.” The Anti-Defamation League considers that belief, held by some Christians, including some Republican lawmakers, to be an anti-Semitic trope that has been used for centuries to justify mob violence against Jews.

Democrats and First Amendment advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union also condemned the bill, arguing that it could restrict political speech.

Today’s most read

What we are following

Little proximity. Both Russian and American troops are currently stationed at the same military air base in the West African country of Niger. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed late Thursday that Russian military personnel were deployed to Air Base 101 in central Niger even though US troops are also stationed there. “The Russians are in a separate compound and have no access to American forces or our equipment,” Austin said. It is unclear when the Russian personnel arrived or how many are at Air Base 101.

The uneasy agreement is the result of a recent decision by Niger’s junta, which seized power in a military coup last July, to ask the United States to withdraw its approximately 1,000 military personnel from the country over disagreements over the future of the nation. Board members initially proposed a three-year timeline for the transition to civilian government, but Washington has argued that is too long. Niger, meanwhile, has turned to Russia to help combat Islamist insurgencies as Moscow takes on a more prominent security role in the Sahel.

Adding to the tensions in Africa, the US State Department on Wednesday accused Russia of deploying chemical weapons in Ukraine, specifically the asphyxiating agent chloropicrin and tear gas. “The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is likely driven by the desire of Russian forces to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and make tactical gains on the battlefield,” the department said in a statement. US officials argued that this violates the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Russia is a signatory. Moscow has denied the accusations.

Torrential rain. Kenya on Friday launched emergency measures to combat “unprecedented” deadly floods across the country. These include evacuation orders for anyone living near the Nairobi River or 178 specific dams and reservoirs, the establishment of new temporary shelters and the provision of additional resources for flood victims to purchase food and medicine. Nairobi also suspended the opening of schools, warning that the country could experience its first cyclone in the coming days.

More than 200 people have died and more than 160,000 have been displaced since heavy rains began in March. This crisis “is a direct consequence of our failure to protect our environment, resulting in the painful effects of climate change we are witnessing today,” President William Ruto said on Friday.

Vote in Panama. Panamanians will elect a new president on Sunday. Currently, polls place the former Minister of Security, José Raúl Mulino, as the favorite despite being the last candidate to vote. In March, he replaced former President Ricardo Martinelli after the former leader received a 10-year prison sentence last July for money laundering, barring him from running. Panama’s highest court approved Mulino’s candidacy for the presidency on Friday.

Lawyer Rómulo Roux and former president Martín Torrijos compete for second place. Roux has pledged to boost tourism and create 500,000 jobs. He previously oversaw the Panama Canal, one of the busiest waterways in the world. Torrijos, son of former dictator Omar Torrijos, is also focusing his campaign on expanding the Panama Canal, creating new jobs and financing infrastructure projects.

What the hell?

On Tuesday, a Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts returned to Earth after completing a mission aboard the country’s orbiting space station. How long did the mission last?

A. Two months
B. Six months
C. One year
D. Two years

Scraps

Listen! Listen! All hail the new king of France! That is, the new king of the crusty baguette. Authorities last week crowned Parisian baker Xavier Netry, giving him $4,290 and making him a supplier to the Elysée Palace for a year. His bread beat out 172 others after being judged for taste, appearance, texture, lightness and baking quality. The secret to success, Netry said, is good sourdough, long fermentation, careful baking and “a little love and passion, of course.”

And the answer is…

B. Six months

China still has a long way to go if it is to achieve its aspirations of becoming a scientific superpower, argue Tanner Greer and Nancy Yu.

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