Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
Sao Paulo- Last Tuesday evening, students at the Federal University of Sao Paulo organized a sit-in in front of the Faculties of Geography and History. They set up their tents in their courtyards and spread Palestinian flags on the walls of the university after a speech ceremony that lasted several hours in which the students, parties, forces, and left-wing labor unions participated.
This move comes in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the genocide they are being subjected to by the Israeli occupation, and against the ongoing negotiations between the Israeli Universities of Sao Paulo and Haifa, which are supposed to lead to the signing of a cooperation agreement between them.
Against this backdrop, the university’s board of directors announced the postponement of the negotiations, and the students, in turn, announced that their sit-in would end with the cancellation of those negotiations.
Expanding the movement
The students also issued a statement – a copy of which was obtained by Tel Aviv Tribune Net – in which they said that their initiative, which was implemented by more than 40 student organizations, is part of the Committee of Students in Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
They added that it is an initiative inspired by student movements around the world that exploded in the United States and spread to Britain, France, Spain, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and many other countries.
The students of the University of Sao Paulo call for the support of the academic community and everyone who stands against the genocide in the Gaza Strip and Palestine and against the planned Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, the most densely populated area in Palestine, which includes more than a million refugees.
In a statement to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Francerosi Barbosa, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, says that university students are currently expanding the movement that has begun to interact in many countries around the world, including the United States, which has attracted a lot of attention, “mainly because to police violence there.”
Barbosa adds that the student camp is peaceful, educational and educational, as the students work to introduce the Brazilian community to the history of Palestine and its people. She hopes that this movement will encourage other students to urgently engage in dialogue and understand the Palestinian issue, “because in the meantime children are being killed in Rafah and in all of Palestine.”
In her opinion, it is necessary to strengthen the defense of the Palestinian people, force the occupation to immediately cease fire, and rebuild the country, and she stresses that universities have an important role in all of this.
Unified demands
In the same context, a member of the leadership of the Brazilian Federation of Popular Trade Unions, journalist and writer Fabio Bosco, who had delivered a speech on the first day of the camp – told Tel Aviv Tribune Net – that the union supports these students against the agreement with the Israeli University of Haifa, “and this is very important.”
He continues that the Brazilian government took a position against the genocide in Gaza and supported the lawsuit filed by the State of South Africa in the International Court of Justice, “and this is good and positive, but at the same time it is still buying Israeli weapons, and this is unacceptable and unacceptable.”
Bosco stresses that it is necessary to strengthen the boycott of “Zionist” companies and universities in solidarity with the Palestinian people, “and this is the least the Brazilian people can do.”
One of the organizers of the sit-in, student Francisco Napolitano, told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that they are demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the cancellation of all academic partnerships between their university and its Israeli counterparts.
They also demand the severing of all of Brazil’s diplomatic, political and economic relations with Israel – according to Napolitano – who explained that the university administration has not yet responded to their demands, and that all they have been able to do so far is cancel the College Council session, where they were going to present their petition and demands.
For her part, student Iris Grossman says that they strongly support the international boycott of Israel movement (BDS) and confirms that they do not have any kind of contact with the university administration yet.
Were the students’ sit-in subjected to any harassment?
Student Andre Cohen, a member of the “Jewish Voices for Freedom” movement, answered that they were subjected to some harassment, as one of the people started screaming during the students’ discussion, and a small quarrel broke out with him in the presence of members of the “Jewish Voices for Freedom Organization” and the Palestinian Arab community.
In turn, the student Napolitano says, “So far there is nothing to worry about. We have been harassed by a small number of Zionists, but the vast majority here welcomed us and supported our sit-in. We are now thinking about the next steps, such as mobilizing more people, and developing the sit-in to extend to all universities.” “The country.”
Napolitano added that they will organize a huge demonstration with the Arab and Palestinian community on May 15, “which is an important date to remember the Nakba of the Palestinian people.” He expressed his hope that their fellow students in other universities would join them, as happened in the United States, stressing that this movement is open to all possibilities. “It may stop after a few days, and it may expand to other universities throughout Brazil.”
