Pro-Palestinian camp in Vienna disbanded, leading to arrests, according to Kurier. After three days, the encampment at the Old AKH grounds was cleared, resulting in the removal of around 40 individuals, with three individuals taken into police custody.
Vienna police dismantled a pro-Palestinian protest camp situated on the University of Vienna campus on Thursday night, with some demonstrators voluntarily vacating the Old AKH grounds in the Alsergrund district.
As reported by APA journalists on site, approximately 40 people were present at the camp during the police operation, and despite multiple requests, only a portion of the activists complied with the instructions to leave the area.
Subsequently, law enforcement gradually disbanded the protest camp, with some protesters chanting pro-Palestinian slogans as they were being removed. According to police spokesman Mattias Schuster, three individuals were initially detained to verify their identities. Prior to the evacuation, activists had notified via email that approximately 200 police officers had surrounded the campsite and issued a 15-minute ultimatum for the protesters to vacate the premises.
According to police reports, approximately 100 individuals had set up tents on Monday following a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Vienna’s campus in the Old AKH area. The University of Vienna promptly distanced itself from the protesters’ concerns. Similar pro-Palestinian encampments had previously been established at universities in the United States and Europe. Instances of violence occurred during the eviction process.
The DSN and LSE had been monitoring the situation at the Old AKH campus since the beginning. Initially, the gathering’s nature did not warrant immediate dispersal, as explained by police spokesman Schuster. However, as the content of the protest became increasingly radicalized, with slogans glorifying Hamas and calls for an intifada, the authorities determined that the gathering was no longer in line with Austrian law.
