Pro-Palestine camps spring up in Madrid as protest draws thousands

Students across Europe are raising their voices in chorus with the pro-Palestine student protests that began in the United States. Students in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain are protesting and in some cases clashing with the police, dozens have been arrested. 

On Saturday, three to four thousand people took to the streets of central Madrid as pro-Palestine groups came together to protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. 

Protesters call for an end to the conflict waving signs reading "Peace," No War," and "Boycott Israeli goods" as camps have popped up at universities around Spain– in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Alicante, the Basque region and beyond.

Some 2,000 academics openly support their students and the police response has been muted so far in Madrid.

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At the philosophy faculty of the Complutense University of Madrid, 100 tents have been set up, students camping overnight to the soundtrack of guitars and paper plates with pasta being shared around. 

"We are all in solidarity with each other even though we have different situations in each of our protests," protester Sonia Camacho tells CGTN. "But, basically we are all having the same demands, and all of us are protesting about the same thing – which is basically the rights of the Palestinian people."

Daniel Maire, another student taking part in the protest tells CGTN: "The Palestinian cause is very important, and we have to defend the right of the Palestinian people to exist."

Student protests across Europe

Elsewhere during the week things have not been so calm, at the University of Amsterdam police stormed a camp at 4 a.m. and arrested around 125 activists, using heavy machinery to break up one camp. 

Videos shot in the German capital and shared on social media showed students being carried out of the Berlin Free University. The university said property was damaged and Berlin police said they made some arrests for incitement to hatred and trespassing.

The protests come as Israel signals a major expansion of its military operations into the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Residents were ordered to evacuate on Saturday as the IDF claims it needs to take out Hamas operatives, and destroy tunnels and other Hamas infrastructure within the city.

More than 35,000 Palestinian people are reported to have lost their lives in the Israeli offensive, which came as a response to the October 7 attacks in which more than 1,200 people were killed in Israel.

The Israeli offensive has caused a humanitarian crisis: The World Food Programme (WFP) says that 1.1 million people in Gaza are suffering "catastrophic levels of hunger."

Politically, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is advocating for European countries to officially recognise Palestine as a state, with Ireland, Denmark, Slovenia, and a handful of other European countries discussing May 21st as a potential date for the declaration.

For the people on the streets of Madrid and in camps on university campuses around the country, the urgency to act immediately to prevent more tragedy should be much greater.

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