Mapping Solidarities, Repressions and Resistances
CLADS is organizing an event bringing together students and staff from Swiss universities to share and think about experiences of solidarities, repressions and resistances over the last year. Thought of as a collective “état des lieux”, it aims at collecting the experiences of mobilizations, institutional advancements and repression in Swiss universities, but also to reflect on forms of continuous resistance and dialog that can be built to further solidarity, democracy and academic freedom. The event is organized in partnership with the Research Centre for Political Action (CRAPUL, University of Lausanne).
Planning
Part I (12:00-18:00) Work session upon registration
Part I is a work session aiming to bring together staff and students from Swiss Universities, to exchange, reflect and organise on pressing issues related to solidarities, repressions and resistances in the context of pro-Palestinian mobilisations. It is organised in workshops focusing on specific themes. To help ensure a trusted and safe space for everyone, participation in these workshops requires registration and follows the Chatham House Rule. The workshops will be followed by a plenary feedback session.
· 12h00-12h30 : Welcome – Opening words by CLADS
· 12h30-13h30 : Collective lunch
· 13h30-16h00 : Workshops on proposed themes
· 16h00-16h30 : Breaks & snacks
· 16h30-18h00 : Plenary – Collective feedbacks and exchange
· 18h00-18h30 : Break & snacks
Part II (18:30-20:00) – Public conference (no registration required)
Part II of the event is a public conference that aims at offering critical reflection on mobilizations in Swiss Universities and their aftermaths. The conference will be divided into three segments structured around short interventions from a variety of voices, followed by an open discussion with the audience. The first will offer a brief overview of experiences of solidarities, repressions and resistances in different Swiss universities drawing on reports, and testimonies from students and staff. The second will bring together the expertise of Paola Salwan Daher (jurist), Tania Bukhari (lawyer, Swiss Action for human rights) and Anita Goh (jurist, Amnesty international), with a recorded intervention of Gina Romero (Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association), to unfold and analyse the legal processes that followed pro-palestinian mobilisations and the different ongoing efforts for accountability. The third opens the floor to envisioning future strategies of solidarities, within and beyond Switzerland.
Workshops 13:30-16:00
Workshop 1
Building and Undermining Coalitions in Confrontation with Authorities
Coalitions are ‘a vital tool’ for social movements, as they amplify the potential for mobilization, increase the visibility of the cause and exert greater pressure on authorities and targets. The aim of this session is to provide an overview of the factors that have facilitated or hindered coalition-building during solidarity mobilizations for Palestine in Switzerland. Particular attention will be given to how repression – or negotiations conducted under the threat of repression – have affected internal coalition dynamics.
Organizers: Mounia Bennani-Chraïbi (CLADS, CRAPUL)
Contact: Asso-CLADS@proton.me
Workshop 2
Connecting Student Activism to Institutionalized University Bodies
Active members of the Students for Palestine in Zurich movement will share their perspectives on the connection between student activism and institutionalized university bodies (e.g., student or midlevel academic staff associations, committees, etc.). Attendees will reflect on the structures within their own universities. They will be tasked with identifying the institutionalized university bodies where their efforts can have the most impact. Attendees will then be matched across universities to share and elaborate new strategies for the context of their own activism in academia.
Organizers: Students for Palestine Zurich
Contact: contact@studentsforpalestine.ch
Workshop 3
Building a Swiss academic network of solidarity with Palestinian scholars
This workshop aims to facilitate the building of an academic solidarity network in Switzerland with Palestinian scholars. Following a presentation of initiatives to host Palestinian academics in Switzerland, based on the experience of the association Alama, we will outline the foundations of a hosting program in French-speaking Switzerland for Palestinian academics. While Swiss universities have announced their intentions to engage, this workshop invites collective reflection on how to implement these intentions and develop concrete opportunities allowing Gazan students to pursue their studies and contribute to rebuilding their future.
Organizers: Yamina Sam & Julie Franck (UNIGE)
Contact: yamina.sam@unige.ch & julie.franck@unige.ch
Workshop 4
Documenting repression through a collaborative online archive
The aim of this session is to build the foundations of a project of a collaborative online archive which will compile instances of repression of solidarity actions towards the Palestinian people in Swiss Universities and third-degree institutions. Inspired by the Index of Repression developed by Forensic Architecture, the aim of this workshop is to gather people to reflect on the format of this archive, its development and diffusion in the future.
Organizers: CLADS (UNIL-EPFL)
Contact: Asso-CLADS@proton.me
Registration form
Please follow this link to register.
