Local police reportedly disbanded a pro-Palestinian student protest at the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) headquarters in the Ravenstein gallery on Wednesday.
Approximately twenty students from the Flemish-speaking Free University of Brussels (VUB), conducted a sit-in protest at the VLIR headquarters, the coordinating body of Flemish universities. They aimed to convince the rectors of the Flemish universities to implement an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and cease all academic cooperation with the state.
The Brussels police quickly intervened and eventually disbanded the protest around midday. Images show officers carrying away students linked arm-in-arm, with no intention of leaving. Reports suggest that one officer used pepper spray to knock a mobile phone out of a student’s hand during the event.
The students claim they were victim to police violence. Johanna Pinket, a student at the VUB said to Belga, "We sat outside the VLIR office for a peaceful action." According to Pinket, the police “stormed in after only two minutes without warning. They picked us up and carried us away. It was intense. There was a lot of police violence."
The police claim that the students were asked to leave the gallery and building, which is privately owned. They stated that, "We invited the students to continue the action in front of the gallery. Those who did not want to leave voluntarily were sent away with the necessary precautions."
Following the sit-in, the students briefly continued protesting outside the entrance of the Ravenstein gallery.
Yesterday, a group of pro-Palestinian students who had been occupying a VUB building since May were evacuated from the premises by the police.
