Police break up a pro-Palestinian student protest in Berlin as demonstrations spread across Europe
Amsterdam (AP): German police on Tuesday broke up a protest by several hundred pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied a courtyard at Berlin's Free University earlier in the day, the latest such action by authorities as protests that have roiled campuses in the United States spread across Europe. Some demonstrators have even called for a break in academic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.
In Berlin, the protesters had put up about 20 tents and formed a human chain around them. Most had covered their faces with medical masks and draped kufiyah scarves around their heads, shouting slogans such as “Viva, viva Palestina.” Berlin police called on the students via loudspeakers to leave the campus. Police were seen carrying some students away as scuffles erupted between officers and protesters. Police also used pepper spray against some of the protesters. The school's administrators said in a statement that the protesters had rejected any kind of dialogue and they had therefore called in police to clear the campus.
“An occupation is not acceptable on the FU Berlin campus,” university president Guenter Ziegler said. FU is the abbreviation for Free University. “We are available for academic dialogue — but not in this way.” The administrators said some protesters attempted to enter rooms and lecture halls at Free University in order to occupy them. The protest organizers had called on other students and professors to take part in the action, the university statement said. The organizers said the protests were made up of students from various Berlin universities and other individuals.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner hailed the school's decision to call in police before things escalated. In recent days, students have held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain, mirroring protests at U.S. campuses. In the eastern German city of Leipzig, about 50 pro-Palestinian protesters set up tents on campus of the Leipzig University and occupied a lecture hall on Tuesday afternoon, dpa reported.
The news agency said that the main student association in the state of Saxony, where Leipzig is located, the KSS, called on the university to break up the occupation. The association's spokesperson, Paul Steinbrecher, told dpa that the group behind it had attracted attention with antisemitic statements and that the safety of Jewish and Israeli students was threatened.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dutch police broke up a similar pro-Palestinian demonstration camp at the University of Amsterdam. Police spokeswoman Sara Tillart said about 140 protesters were arrested, two of whom remain in custody on suspicion of committing public violence. Amsterdam police said on the social media platform X that their action was “necessary to restore order” after protests turned violent. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Video aired by national broadcaster NOS shows police using a mechanical digger to push down barricades and officers with batons and shields moving in, beating some of the protesters and pulling down tents. Protesters had formed barricades from wooden pallets and bicycles, NOS reported.
The Amsterdam University said in a statement that police ended the demonstration at its Roeterseiland campus “due to public order and safety concerns.” “The war between Israel and Hamas is having a major impact on individual students and staff,” it said. “We share the anger and bewilderment over the war, and we understand that there are protests over it. We stress that within the university, dialogue about it is the only answer.”
A crowd that swelled to some 3,000 demonstrators, including students and academic staff, some wearing kufiyah scarves, gathered Tuesday afternoon near the location of the dismantled camp, chanting slogans including, “Palestine will be free!” and “Cops off campus!” Jamil Fiorino-Habib, a lecturer at the university's media studies department, told the gathering, “the only path forward is a total academic boycott of Israel.”
In Austria, protesters camped out in about 20 tents set up in the main courtyard of the University of Vienna for a second day Tuesday. With police monitoring, protesters cordoned off the encampment, which is near a memorial for Austrian Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The University of Vienna and the main Austrian Union of Students distanced themselves from the protest. The union said “antisemitic groups were among the protest's organizers,” which the protesters denied.
Pro-Palestine protest camps have sprung up at about a dozen universities in Britain, including at Oxford and Cambridge, urging the institutions to fully disclose investments, cut academic ties with Israel and divest from businesses linked to the country. Dozens of students have pitched up Gaza solidarity encampments on lawns outside King's College at Cambridge University and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. “Oxbridge's profits cannot continue to climb at the expense of Palestinian lives, and their reputations must no longer be built on the whitewashing of Israeli crimes,” said a joint statement from protesters at the two universities. Over 200 Oxford academics have signed an open letter supporting the protests.
In Finland, dozens of protesters from the Students for Palestine solidarity group set up an encampment outside the main building at the University of Helsinki, saying they would stay there until the university, which is Finland's largest academic institution, cuts academic ties with Israeli universities. In Denmark, students set up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Copenhagen, erecting about 45 tents outside the campus of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The university said students can protest but called on them to respect the rules on campus grounds.
“Seek dialogue, not conflict and make room for perspectives other than your own,” the administrators said on X. The administration “cannot and must not express an opinion on behalf of university employees and students about political matters, including about the ongoing conflict” in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the statement said.
On their Facebook page, members of the activist group Students Against the Occupation said their attempts to talk to the administration over the past two years about withdrawing the school's investments from companies with ties to activities in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have been in vain. “We can no longer be satisfied with cautious dialogue that does not lead to concrete action,” the group said.
In Italy, students at the University of Bologna, one of the world's oldest universities, set up a tent encampment over the weekend to demand an end to the war in Gaza as Israel prepared an offensive in Rafah, despite pleas from its Western allies against it. Groups of students organized similar protests in Rome and Naples, which were largely peaceful. More than a dozen tents were set up in a piazza named for a university student who fought against fascist rule during World War II. Some were decorated with Palestinian flags and a banner read “Student Intefadeh,” or "Student Uprising.”
In Spain, dozens of students have spent over a week at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Valencia campus. Similar camps were set up Monday at the University of Barcelona and at the University of the Basque Country. A group representing students at Madrid's public universities announced it would step up protests against the war in the coming days.
In Paris, student groups called for gatherings in solidarity with Palestinians later Tuesday. On Friday, French police peacefully removed dozens of students from a building at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, after they had gathered in support of Palestinians. On Tuesday, students at the prestigious institution, which counts French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and President Emmanuel Macron among its alumni, were seen entering the campus unobstructed to take exams as police stood at the entrances.
Protests took place last week at some other universities in France, including in Lille and Lyon. Macron's office said police had been requested to remove students from 23 sites on French campuses.
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Adani touts financial strength, shows can grow without external debt
New Delhi (PTI): Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday touted its financial and credit details of its portfolio companies to investors, showcasing its robust profits and cash flows that can sustain growth without reliance on external debt.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate, which has been hit by an indictment in a US court against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives for allegedly bribing Indian official to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to the investors highlighted its consistently expanding profits and cash flows, which over a period have led to lowering dependence on debt for its growth ambitions.
Equity now accounts for almost two third of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the last six months, the group has invested close to Rs 75,227 crore, against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.
A note was also shared with the investors, along with presentations.
Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani Portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani Portfolio companies had a cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding".
This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.
GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT
In the past, the group has announced plans to invest over Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next ten years.
The Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the last twelve months and is growing over 30 per cent for the past five years. On the basis of this, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next ten years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.
Further, at the portfolio level, there is very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.
Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the last twelve months, which it said is highly stable and hence predictable due to its infrastructure projects, which grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.
Also, existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in 3 years.
Gross assets/investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore, against total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. Asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.
Average cost of borrowing at 8.2 per cent, lowest in the last 5 years, due to upgrade in ratings across group companies, it said.
Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks was Rs 94,400 crore. This stood against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which was parked with Indian banks.
Borrowings from global banks were 27 per cent of total debt.
