Nightly Eviction of the pro-Palestine Camp in Vienna, Several Arrests
Kurier, May 9, 2024
German original: https://kurier.at/chronik/wien/pro-palaestina-camp-universitaet-campus-wien-raeumung-polizei-aktivisten/402889022
After three days, the Old General Hospital site was cleared. Around 40 people were in the camp, three are in police custody.
The police cleared the pro-Palestine protest camp on the campus of the University of Vienna on Thursday night, with some of the demonstrators leaving the grounds of the Old General Hospital in the Alsergrund district voluntarily. This was reported by APA reporters on the spot. According to police spokesman Mattias Schuster, there were around 40 people in the camp at the time of the police action, who were repeatedly asked to leave the area. Only some of the activists complied.
The police then gradually cleared the protest camp. Some demonstrators, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, allowed themselves to be carried away. According to Schuster, three of them initially remained in police custody for identification purposes. The activists had previously reported by email that “around 200 police officers” had surrounded the students' camp and given the protesters 15 minutes to leave the site.
The police were still busy clearing the area the following morning. However, everything remained calm.
Pro-Palestine sympathizers block roads
The announcement of the eviction triggered a mobilization via social networks. Around 100 pro-Palestine sympathizers - including activists from the camp itself who had packed up their tents - subsequently gathered in the Alser Straße/Spitalgasse area and blocked both streets. According to APA reporters, they waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans such as “Palestine from the river to the sea”, “Free, free Palestine!” and a “Shame on you!” directed at the police.
Many were masked, for example with protective masks. The police also found violations of the ban on wearing masks. The atmosphere was loud but peaceful, reported the APA reporters. Over the course of the night, the demonstrators dispersed somewhat.
Special units such as the WEGA, the service dog squadron, the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) and the State Office for State Security and Counter-Extremism (LSE) were also deployed on behalf of the police. A police drone was also used.
Night-time evacuation of the pro-Palestine camp in Vienna, several arrests
Violence broke out at times during the eviction
According to the police, around 100 people had set up their tents on the campus of the University of Vienna at the Altes AKH following a “pro-Palestine” demonstration on Monday. The University of Vienna “firmly” distanced itself from the protesters' concerns. Pro-Palestine camps had also previously been set up and buildings occupied at universities in the USA and Europe. Violence broke out in some cases when they were evacuated.
DSN and LSE had observed the situation at the Altes AKH campus from the beginning. At the beginning, the nature of the gathering was not such that the protest camp would have been broken up immediately, explained police spokesman Schuster. This changed, he said, because an increasing radicalization of the content was observed. Among other things, slogans glorifying the goals of the militant Palestinian organization Hamas and calls for an intifada (Palestinian uprising) were registered. “After considering all the circumstances and a final assessment by the DSN, the purpose of this gathering was no longer compatible with Austrian law”, Schuster continued.
Solidarity with the goals of Hamas
The DSN had come to the conclusion that the true purpose of the gathering was probably to show solidarity with the goals of Hamas and was therefore no longer covered by the right to freedom of expression. In addition, the protest on the grounds of the Old General Hospital was classified as a threat to public safety. “The priority is always public safety and health,” emphasized police spokesman Schuster. The security authorities had therefore decided to break up the rally. Hamas denies Israel's right to exist and is classified as a terrorist organization in the EU.
The Students' Union (ÖH) at the University of Vienna also distanced itself from the protest camp. Among others, “clearly anti-Semitic groups” such as “Der Funke” or the Israel boycott campaign BDS had called for this “emcampment”. Such protests make Jewish students feel increasingly insecure, it was claimed on Monday. Nora Hasan, Chairwoman of the ÖH at the University of Vienna, told APA on Thursday night: “We must provide a non-discriminatory space for everyone. It must not be the case that Jewish students cannot attend lectures and seminars.” Solidarity with Palestine is allowed, “but without anti-Semitism”, said the representative of the Association of Socialist Students (VSStÖ). “We work closely with the Jewish Student Union,” she emphasized.
On Wednesday afternoon, a counter-demonstration took place against the protest camp on the grounds of the Old General Hospital. More than 70 people responded to a call from the Jewish Austrian University Students (JöH) and gathered a few dozen meters away from the camp. The counter-demonstrators also chanted slogans such as “Free, free Palestine!” and “Israel is a Terror State”.
“Glorification of terror and calls for violence”
IKG President Oskar Deutsch welcomed the eviction of the camp. “The eviction by the police was the only right step in view of the glorification of terror and calls for violence! Now it is the turn of the judiciary to prosecute the agitators of the Intifada camp,” Deutsch said in a statement sent to APA on Thursday morning.
The chairman of the Vienna ÖVP, Karl Mahrer, spoke in a statement of a “clear reaction of the constitutional state”. He told the Vienna city government of the SPÖ and Neos parties: “The breeding ground for anti-Semitism must be removed. We therefore need the right and consistent measures in integration and education policy and, above all, in view of the recent incidents surrounding the Vienna Festival, a U-turn in cultural policy.”