The World Turn Its Head Towards Sciences Po During Integration Week Protests

Editor’s note:

Objectivity is of paramount importance to The Menton Times. As such, the September 2022 issue of the publication features a variety of stances that students took amid the controversial Integration Week boycott.

Sciences Pistes politicize everything.

This truism held up during Integration Week when the Bureau des Élèves included the opportunity to attend the OGC Nice vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv club football game. This match would soon become the source of vivid tension.

Such discontent first materialized in the simple and relatively silent boycott of the event by many students but then took another turn with the explicit expression of dissatisfaction by Sciences Palestine, a campus organization dedicated to Palestinian political activism and cultural affairs.

According to Sciences Palestine, this match “normalized the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the persistence of an apartheid regime,” acknowledging the recent bombings of the Gaza Strip and the increased expansion of settlements in the West Bank, which were cited as the leading causes of the protest.

Initial plans called for a peaceful demonstration outside the OGC Nice stadium during the Aug. 25, 2022 game, but protest organizers soon faced unprecedented roadblocks. After the president of Sciences Palestine spoke to media representatives, the event was thrown into the heart of a controversy far beyond the walls of the Menton campus.

As news of the protest spread across the Riviera, it was met with largely negative reactions from the university administration and local government. According to Sciences Palestine, the Sciences Po administration threatened consequences toward any organization that chose to partake in the protest. Furthermore, the administration criticized the illegality of the demonstration since it was not declared to the town hall. The mayor of Menton, Yves Juhel, announced that financial support and permits that allow student associations to use city establishments for Sciences Po students would be jeopardized if the protest occurred.

The outcry was also not limited to local government and administration — the original protest was canceled amid student safety concerns when both OGC Nice supporters and Menton residents threatened Sciences Pistes protesters with bodily harm. The bureau advised Sciences Po students attending the match to hide any affiliation with Sciences Po and avoid political statements in their clothing. News of the protest even reached Israel — Sports5, a prominent Israeli sports media outlet, published an article briefly summarizing the controversy, outlining the plans of the original protest, the subsequent security threats, and the condemnation of the match by officials in the Nice municipality.

In social media statements, Sciences Palestine claimed a double standard in their treatment by Sciences Po, citing past unauthorized demonstrations, such as a January 2022 protest against far-right politician Eric Zemmour, that have occurred with no roadblocks or negative attention from the Sciences Po administration. Because of this, Sciences Palestine claimed that the protest in solidarity with Palestine was uniquely targeted.

They also raised a question regarding the ethics of free speech limitations at universities — should the Sciences Po administration have the authority to directly or indirectly restrict student protests?

As a State Party to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, freedom of assembly is guaranteed under French law without restriction, except for stipulations governing the protection of national security, public safety, public health, disturbances to the public order, or infringement upon the rights of others. However, protests in France have faced opposition in recent years, particularly in cases concerning the protection of public order, a clause many see as too broad to enforce and naturally leading to government overreach.

In May 2021, French interior minister, Gerard Darmanin, targeted a protest organized against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Darmanin pushed the Paris police chief to ban the rally due to “serious disturbances to the public order” that occurred after Palestinian solidarity protests in 2014. Additionally, the president of the Association France-Palestine Solidarité, Bertrand Heilbronn, was arrested in Paris after he announced plans to organize a peaceful rally. This move was condemned by activists and politicians, with French Parliament member Elsa Faucillon tweeting that “manifester est un droit dont vous devriez être le garant” (protesting is a right that must be guaranteed). Given this history, the governmental challenges to the protest were not entirely unexpected.

Additionally, the Sciences Palestine protest controversy was not limited to off-campus organizations. In response to Sciences Palestine’s plans, the Sciences Po Menton chapter of the Union des Etudiants Juifs released a statement condemning the protest against the Israeli government at the match. While Maccabi Tel Aviv is based in Israel, it was established in 1906, before Israel’s birth, and its players originate from across the world. The team is associated with Judaism — the team logo includes the Star of David. The UEJF’s statement, taking into account the Jewish roots of Maccabi Tel Aviv, argued that the protest would match the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism: “Holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel.”

UEJF President Ellie Carter said, “The UEJF’s statement is the product of a lot of time and consideration on the part of all three of our board members. I hope we have conveyed that, although we absolutely encourage the right of Sciences Palestine to engage in demonstrations and protests, we also urge participants to continue to think critically about the context, messages, and ultimate goals of their actions, ensuring that the distinction is made between a person who is Jewish, a person who is Israeli, and the Israeli State itself.”

Despite the initial challenges, Sciences Palestine protested in Nice on Sept. 3, 2022, in collaboration with the Association France Palestine Solidarité. Sciences Palestine labeled the protest “a victory over censorship” and pledged to continue future activism even in the face of challenges.

Whether or not one agrees with the original protest, witnessing this level of engagement amid such a divergence of ideas remains a valuable opportunity to deconstruct one’s most entrenched certainties. Seizing such opportunities is an integral part of the Sciences Po experience, where one works to carefully forge informed stances while also learning to defend them efficiently and relentlessly.