The police do not intervene in the Spanish pro-Palestinian student protests

• Miral de Bruijne

  correspondent Spain and Portugal

In Spain, pro-Palestinian students have also been camping in front of their university for days. There is a big difference with the situation in, for example, the Netherlands and the United States: in Spain no one has yet been arrested during the protests. There have been virtually no clashes between demonstrators and the police. While the students have approximately the same goals as in other countries, where the protests are getting out of hand.

The demonstrating students in Spain have already achieved one of their goals. The association of public universities today pledged to take a closer look at ties with Israeli institutions.

The first pro-Palestinian tent camp in Spain was set up in Valencia on April 29. Barcelona followed shortly afterwards and since the beginning of this week, students in Madrid have also joined the movement. At least fifty tents have been set up on the campus of Universidad Complutense de Madrid. There are banners and Palestinian flags everywhere.

About 200 people gathered there. In front of the tents on a square, the dabke, a traditional Palestinian dance, is danced in a huge circle. There are all kinds of people watching. In front of the tents people eat a snack, read or play a game of chess.

Sonia Camacho is 20 and she studies law and political science. She is one of the organizers together with her fellow students. “We set this up because we have a number of demands for the public universities of Madrid. Basically we want them to cut all ties with Israel, whether commercial or educational. We demand from our government to stop the arms trade with Israel fuses.”

In contrast to the demonstrations in Amsterdam, for example, things are very quiet here. For now, the protests are also smaller-scale and the organizers’ plan is for the camp to continue until Saturday. Mayor Martínez-Almeida of Madrid is not happy with this, he would like to see the demonstrations disappear as quickly as possible. The mayor of the conservative Popular Party called on the university to “keep politics out of the classrooms.” He believes that if the students are so committed to human rights, they should first condemn Hamas.

His party PP, the largest opposition party in the country, has supported Israel since the start of the war. A spokesperson says that these types of protests are intended against Israel and are therefore for Hamas. “I believe that Hamas is an organization that must be eradicated because it is a terrorist organization and Israel as a democratic state is allowed to defend itself,” he said. This is at odds with Spanish policy regarding the war. Prime Minister Sánchez is one of Europe’s most critical leaders towards Israel.

“I want to say to the mayor that this is not a religious issue,” said protester Sonia Camacho. “We are demonstrating here because human lives are in danger. Hamas is being used as an excuse to commit genocide.”

The Spanish opposition and the Madrid city council may be against the demonstrations, but this is certainly not the first pro-Palestinian protest in the capital. Since the start of the war, the demonstrations have attracted tens of thousands of people. Prime Minister Sánchez’s position is shared by a large proportion of Spaniards. For example, if you walk through the center of Madrid, you will see Palestinian flags or pro-Palestinian graffiti in many places.

This is also noticeable here on the university grounds. For students, this is one of the most important academic weeks of the year: a week before the final exams. And yet these students sleep in tents instead of studying at home. That is why a special study area has been set up on the edge of the camp.

A group of students are busy typing on their laptops. “I have a sociology exam tomorrow,” says a student. The five students at the table agree: studying and manifesting go very well together. “We’ll show that here.” And a number of teachers want to help with that. They have offered the demonstrators tutoring so that they can pass their exams.

The students are happy with the support they receive, especially because they have heard about what happens in other countries. Camacho refers to what is happening in the Netherlands. “Things have been very pleasant here so far. The government has so far pursued a relatively pro-Palestinian policy, they will not dare to send the police to us.” The university and the demonstrators are therefore in good dialogue with each other. The students are allowed to occupy the site until tomorrow in any case.