The Police has started clearing parts of Berlin’s Humboldt University occupied by pro-Palestinian activists. According to police information, approximately 130 short-term restrictions on freedom were imposed. The identity of the occupiers has been established: there are still approximately 50 people in the building. There are currently no reports of injuries, either from the police or the occupiers.
The chairman of the Humboldt University in Berlin, Julia von Blumenthal expressed her regret that no agreement had been reached with the activists. “I’m not sure if it would have been successful, but I had the impression that we had taken a good step with this dialogue,” Von Blumenthal said on Thursday after talks with pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied a building. “The order then came from the highest top to end the occupation. I obeyed this order,” she said. By this she means the ruling mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), she confirmed when asked.
The cast previously featured Von Blumenthal tolerated to a limited extent, but called for this to end by Thursday at 6 p.m. After the deadline passed, the eviction took place.
In the afternoon, the police announced that the demonstrators had been given a new meeting space a little further from the university buildings. Some demonstrators standing in front of the occupied building were forced there, sometimes by force.
According to the police, there was material damage in the occupied institute building for social sciences. In addition, anti-Semitic and inflammatory statements were made by demonstrators. In connection with the protest, according to police, 23 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were temporarily arrested on the first day of the occupation and 25 criminal investigations were opened.
The protests are against Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7but also partly against the Israeli state as a whole.
The Police has started clearing parts of Berlin’s Humboldt University occupied by pro-Palestinian activists. According to police information, approximately 130 short-term restrictions on freedom were imposed. The identity of the occupiers has been established: there are still approximately 50 people in the building. There are currently no reports of injuries, either from the police or the occupiers.
The chairman of the Humboldt University in Berlin, Julia von Blumenthal expressed her regret that no agreement had been reached with the activists. “I’m not sure if it would have been successful, but I had the impression that we had taken a good step with this dialogue,” Von Blumenthal said on Thursday after talks with pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied a building. “The order then came from the highest top to end the occupation. I obeyed this order,” she said. By this she means the ruling mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), she confirmed when asked.