A group of around 100 pro-Palestinian students from the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) staged a demonstration on the university’s Etterbeek campus on Thursday afternoon.
The students demand the creation of a Human Rights Commission for Palestine with student representation, an academic boycott of Israel, and an end to economic ties with the Israeli state, according to the organisation VUB Palestine Solidarity Network.
The collective, which previously occupied a campus building last year, remains active at the VUB. They made their voices heard during the university’s academic year opening ceremony and claimed to have gathered around 100 participants for a march on Thursday.
The action aims to persuade the rector and other VUB officials to establish a human rights commission involving students to examine the university’s links with Israel. The group advocates for both academic and economic boycott measures. They also seek support for Palestinian rights to education and academic training from the VUB.
“We are united in solidarity and resistance for Palestine and Lebanon, against the impunity of the Israeli war machine and Western complicity,” stated Isa Tomasevic of Palestine Solidarity Network. “The ties between the VUB and Israel remain. As long as the VUB collaborates with Israel and is complicit in genocide, we will continue to act.”
