By Lucien Libert
PARIS (Reuters) – Protesters angry over the Gaza war took to Paris’ Sorbonne University on Monday, chanting ‘Free Palestine’ at the university’s gates while some students set up tents in the courtyard.
Days after similar protests at Paris’s Sciences Po elite school, the gathering at the Sorbonne was the latest sign that demonstrations on U.S. campuses were spilling over to Europe as the devastating war is in its seventh month.
The protests, which lead the university to close the building for the day, were peaceful as students urged the institution – one of the world’s oldest universities – to condemn Israel’s actions.
Police were securing the street with the main entrance, facing a group of around 50 students, a Reuters reporter saw.
According to Palestinian authorities, Israel has killed at least 34,488 Palestinians in its assault on Gaza, retaliating against an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and led to over 200 taken hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Several French politicians, including Mathilde Panot who heads the hardleft LFI group of lawmakers in the National Assembly had called supporters to join the Sorbonne protests on social media.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Ingrid Melander)
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