UPDATE - German police clear out pro-Palestinian camp at Free University of Berlin

UPDATES WITH POLICE INTERVENTION; ADDS MORE DETAILS; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - German police began forcibly clearing a pro-Palestine student encampment set up on the campus of the Free University of Berlin on Tuesday.

Police officers used brutal physical force against demonstrators and arrested scores of students, after the university administration called in local police to break up the encampment.

The protest camp was set up on Tuesday morning by more than 100 students in order to protest Israel’s war on Gaza, and the recent ground incursion into the crowded southern city of Rafah.

Later in the day, around 300 students and protesters gathered on the campus to voice support for the Palestinian people.

Wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, the students shouted slogans such as “Free, free Palestine!,” "Israel is a terrorist state," and "Shame on you Germany.”

The university administration said in a statement that the attempt of the students to occupy the campus was “unacceptable” and it called in the police to evict the protesters.

Since protests started last month at a number of US universities in support of Palestine, the protests have spread worldwide, including in universities across Europe.