Police break up pro-Palestinian protest camp in front of Vienna University of Technology

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) – Police on Wednesday broke up a pro-Palestinian protest camp in front of the Vienna University of Technology (TU) in Austria, shortly after it was set up to protest Israel's ongoing attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The activists and students stated in social media posts that they wanted to "set up a Palestine solidarity camp for the second time in the context of the genocide that has been going on for almost eight months."

Approximately 100 activists set up the camp in the morning, according to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

However, Vienna police arrived on campus and dismantled the pro-Palestine camp, stating on X, "As this is of a nature that threatens public order and endorses an intifada, the assembly is being officially dispersed."

In addition, according to the Vienna police, the protest plan “was not properly registered.”

According to ORF, Wednesday's encampment attempt was carried out by the same organization that had established a camp on the university campus of Vienna's old university hospital AKH.

The student organizers of the protest camp also criticize the "complicity of the TU," specifically its collaboration with the Israel Institute of Technology (TECHNION).

“TECHNION is a cornerstone of the Israeli military industry and promotes research into Israeli military projects such as Elbit Systems. With this cooperation, TU Wien is directly complicit in the genocide that the Israeli military is committing against the Palestinians,” the activists wrote.

A pro-Palestinian protest camp on the campus of the University of Vienna was already cleared by the police at the beginning of May. Three people were arrested during the eviction at the time.