In Brazil, students protest Israel ties after Gaza flotilla detentions: Video
The University of São Paulo (USP) witnessed a protest on Thursday in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla, after several of its members were detained by the Israeli Navy while attempting to break the blockade of Gaza earlier this week.
Students, professors and staff gathered inside a campus building, where banners read “USP cannot be complicit in genocide.” Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, carried placards and called on the university to cut institutional ties with Israel.
Antonio, a protester, told Viory that Israel had “kidnapped USP workers,” yet the university continues to maintain scientific and technological relations with the country.
Among those detained were Magno Costa, a USP union director, and Bruno Gilga, a university employee and journalist. They were aboard the ship Sirius, one of 42 vessels that set sail with humanitarian aid for Gaza. Organisers say only one boat remains in the water, with the rest intercepted or presumed intercepted. Israel has defended the operation, calling the flotilla a “publicity stunt” and insisting it was enforcing a “lawful blockade.”
The demonstration in São Paulo formed part of a broader wave of protests across Latin America and beyond since 1 October, with similar actions in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Peru. Campaigners demand the release of flotilla members, an end to the blockade of Gaza, and a severing of ties between universities in the region and Israeli institutions.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
