Council suspends funding to Paris university amid pro-Palestinian protests

RFI

30 April 2024 at 7:41 am·1-min read

The Paris regional council sparked controversy on Tuesday by temporarily suspending funding for Sciences Po, one of the country's most prestigious universities, after it was rocked by tense pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

"I have decided to suspend all regional funding for Sciences Po until calm and security have been restored at the school," Valérie Pécresse, the right-wing head of the greater Paris Ile-de-France region, said on social media on Monday.

She took aim at "a minority of radicalised people calling for anti-Semitic hatred" and accused hard-left politicians of seeking to exploit the tensions.

They should not "dictate their law to the entire educational community," she said.

The regional council's support for the Paris Institute of Political Studies – known as Sciences Po – includes €1 million "planned for 2024 as part of a state contract (CPER)", Pécresse's entourage told French news agency AFP.

Other suspended funds were linked to hosting overseas mentors, planned "for spring and the start of the school year" later in 2024 the source said.

Maintain dialogue

On Tuesday, the university's acting administrator, Jean Basseres, said he regretted the decision.

"The Ile-de-France region is an essential partner of Sciences Po, and I wish to maintain dialogue on the position expressed by Mrs Pecresse", he told French daily Le Monde in an interview published Tuesday.

Students at prestigious Paris university protest over Israel-Gaza war

Critics on the left have denounced Pécresse's announcement.

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