Students go on strike and rally for second consecutive day after Israel intercepted Gaza flotilla

After Thursday's demonstration with around 6,500 students in Barcelona's city center, students went on strike again on Friday to denounce the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla. 

Students gathered at Universitat square at noon, following several blockades across universities in Catalonia.

Students at the Barcelona Autonomous University in Cerdanyola del Vallès blocked access to the university campus and the entrance of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) rail network from early in the morning.

Organizers said that around 150 people had spent the night preparing for the rally, taking place around 36 hours after the Gaza humanitarian aid flotilla was stopped by the Israeli army.

"A mark or a calendar cannot be more important than stopping a genocide," protesters said.

In Barcelona, around 50 people blocked access to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) industrial engineer building (ETSEIB). Many students spent the night in the building and in the morning, they used tables and chairs to block access to the building.

The main goal, as Lia Casadevall, one of the spokespersons behind the group of protesters, said, is to urge public universities to break all ties with Israel.

Casadevall said that they tried to look for a "peaceful solution" with the university management team to halt classes, but they did not reach any consensus.

"The main goal is for students to understand why they cannot go to classes." she said. The idea is to return to classes on Monday, but with the goal of keeping the requirements to cut ties.

Meanwhile, outside the university, there were dozens of students who wanted to attend their courses, as Carla, who is studying a master at ETSEIB and also works at the faculty.

"I was aware that there was a strike, but I did not expect for them to block our access," Carla told ACN.

Iván Perdíguero, a first-year degree student of industrial engineering, said that he is in favor of Palestine, but that blocking access to universities is not "the way" of helping Gaza or urging governments to take action.

Pedro López was "very angry" as he said that he "had his own right to study, most of the students are in favor of Palestine, but I do not see any link between protesting and me not being able to attend classes," he said.

Indefinite campout

Around 50 people camped out in Barcelona's Drassanes square on the night going from Thursday to Friday, to protest against the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, sailing with humanitarian aid addressed to Gaza, on Wednesday evening.

Demonstrators are located between the World Trade Center and the Paral·lel Avenue, where a protest with 15,000 people occurred on Thursday afternoon. During the night, there were around 20 tents set for protesters to sleep.

Judit Piñol, one of the spokespersons of the Flotilla support movement in Barcelona, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that they had a "very peaceful" sleep and highlighted the support platform's "solidarity." The campout was set up using materials brought by people.

Piñol said that this is "an indefinite campout" until the "commercial ties with the government of Israel are really, effectively, and immediately cut." She added that Spain continues to be the "number one partner" of Israel and said that another way of putting an end to the campout is for Israel to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza.

"We will leave the day the governments start doing their jobs. It is as easy as that," Piñol told ACN.

One of the other activists who spent the night at the campout, Tiziano Picardo, said that they are "a lighthouse and plans to remain there until their voices are heard."

Picardo said that the campout occurred to "break normality" of streets. Demonstrators prepared the area to welcome two rallies, one of the students starting at midday, and a second one taking place at 6:30 pm.

The campout was set at the Drassanes square, where 15,000 people demonstrated on Thursday. Organizers chose that meeting point to "show the financial complicity between the Catalan and the Zionist governments," Judit Piñol said.

On Thursday's demonstration, Mossos d'Esquadra police arrested two people for public disorders, causing damage, and having inflammable material. During the rally, 14 police officers were injured, mainly with minor injuries.

Another demonstrator, Inés, from Santa coloma de Queralt, a central town of Catalonia, said that she has a "feeling of impotence, of anger, and of sadness. The very minimum we could do from our privileged position is to raise our voices for those who cannot do it."