"We have always valued the free expression of ideas and the involvement of the community in causes that concern us collectively. Faced with methods and behaviors that seriously jeopardize the safety of people and property and, by extension, the proper functioning of ULisboa and its Schools, it is our responsibility to put an end to this initiative", says the institution.

Portuguese university and high school students linked to movements such as the Student Climate Strike and Students for Justice in Palestine have been protesting since Tuesday at the UL Faculty of Psychology, in whose building the Institute of Education also operates.

According to the statement, the "directors of the two ULisboa Schools (...) initially favored the coexistence of the protest demonstration [for the end of the war in the Gaza Strip and fossil fuels] with the development of the planned academic activities".

However, on Thursday afternoon, "worrying situations of destruction of heritage, graffiti and threats to security began to occur through the elimination and breaking of locks, leaving free access to areas of the building where there are laboratories, administrative services, directors' offices and classrooms".

Considering that "the ease of access to records of personal and academic data, laboratory and technological materials and documents and possessions constitutes an unacceptable risk", as well as that "a substantial part of the demonstrators" did not belong to the community of the two Schools, "the Rector of ULisboa and the directors of the Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Education requested the intervention of the authorities".

Representatives of the student protest told the Lusa agency today that on Thursday night, eight people were arrested and others were forced to leave the scene by the PSP, which did not comment on the incident.

The movements had called for the occupation in association with a student protest that began on American campuses and spread to universities in several European cities, Canada, Mexico and Australia, to demand the end of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The war in Gaza was triggered by the attack by the radical Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused about 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

The offensive launched by Israel in retaliation has since caused almost 35,000 deaths, according to Hamas, which has governed the small Palestinian enclave since 2007.

Read Also: Students camp at college to demand the end of war and fossils (Portuguese version)