Prime Minister Gabriel Attal affirmed on Saturday April 27 that he “there will never be a right to blockage” in universities, the day after a tense pro-Palestinian mobilization at Sciences Po Paris, concluded by an agreement between demonstrators and management. “There will never be a right to blockage, never tolerance with the action of an active and dangerous minority which seeks to impose its rules on our students and our teachers”declared Mr. Attal during a trip to Pirou, in Manche.
The Prime Minister deplored “the heartbreaking and shocking spectacle” of the blockade and partial occupation of the Parisian establishment by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Friday, which turned into a tense face-to-face with other pro-Israel demonstrators.
However, the situation calmed down in the evening, when management announced the suspension of disciplinary procedures and the organization of an internal debate next week. “For there to be debate, the rules must be respected” And “this is not what we saw yesterday”estimated Mr. Attal, accusing “a minority agitated by political forces in particular La France Insoumise (LFI) » of “seek to disrupt the functioning of this institution”.
The Minister of Higher Education Sylvie Retailleau, for her part, “thanked” the management of Sciences Po after the agreement which put an end to the movement in this establishment “which must remain a place of study, respect and serene debate”.
But the boss of the Republicans, Eric Ciotti, saw it as a “unbearable submission”because the management of Sciences Po “lies down in the face of the intolerable demands of the far-left blocking students”, he said on X.
Furthermore, the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra) deplored having had to move its national convention scheduled for Saturday on the Sciences Po site in Reims to Reims town hall, due to a blockage on the campus. in support of the Palestinian cause. Denouncing on an organized blockage “by students supported by” of LFI elected officials, she criticized “liberticidal methods” And “unacceptable”.
“Authoritarian turn” of the Prime Minister
On the side of the student unions, the Student Union called in a press release to “intensify mobilization at study sites from Monday”.
Denouncing a “authoritarian turn” of the Prime Minister, the Unef called in another press release the youth “to mobilize and seize its places of study in all forms that it considers legitimate to denounce attempts at muzzling”.
The president of the University of Strasbourg, Michel Deneken, however estimated that “French universities, contrary to what one might read or hear, are not in flames and blood”. “Our mission is to allow contradictory debate to take place, in peace, in academic exchange but not in vociferation or political recovery”he added on RMC.