FRANKFURT- On Tuesday evening, December 6th, police attacked the cast of “End Fossil: Occupy!” HZ1 on the Westend campus of the University of Frankfurt. The activists accuse the university administration and the police of using disproportionate force.
On the evening of the first day of the occupation, talks between the students and the rector of the university broke down. No compromise was found. The university management offered the students to continue their protest in a lecture hall on the Bockenheim campus. The students rejected this offer because the university hardly ever uses the campus in Bockenheim anymore. Almost all departments have moved to the Westend or Riedberg campus. Everyday life at the university takes place mainly on the Westend campus. “We want a place in the heart of the university”, said an activist in reference to the lecture hall center with its large lecture halls, the site of the occupation. The rector of the university refused on the grounds that there was no place for the students in the heart of the university.
The rector of the university did not respond to the students’ counter-offers. They offered to move to a smaller lecture hall on campus or even continue the occupation in the dining room of the casino canteen annex. At the latest when the first police cars arrived, it became clear during the negotiations with the rector of the university that the university management was not interested in an equal exchange with the students. The university rector’s only goal was to marginalize and make invisible the demands for more climate justice.
The police quickly entered the lecture hall and ordered the students to leave the university campus. After about 10 minutes, the students were pushed out of the lecture hall and some were dragged to the floor. The students defended themselves against the violence of the police. While the personal details of 6 people were being recorded, 3 people were taken to the Frankfurt police station. The students then organized a large demonstration to demand the release of the arrested students.
In contrast to the university administration, the students experienced solidarity from various staff, such as a cleaner or other employee, who expressed their support for the students and their demands. Hundreds of students are now committed to the demands and work of End Fossil: Occupy! and are outraged by the violent actions of the university administration.
An activist from StudentsDefendKurdistan who was present at the occupation said: “The university administration has exposed itself. It deployed police officers against the peaceful and creative protests by students demanding more climate justice. This is a new peak in the criminalization of the climate movement. As Kurdish students, we know this very well and together we will scandalize this behavior of the university administration!”
