Last update - 00:00 02/05/2007
Student strike protest ends with 32 demonstrators arrested
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
Thousands of students on strike clashed with police near Tel Aviv University as part of a protest rally Wednesday. The students attempted to block the entrance to the Ayalon freeway, but police forces prevented the blockade, and arrested 32 students. Students burned tires and blocked roads leading to the University.
Eight hundred policemen were sent to the University to try and clear the roads.
Police said that there were 2,000 - 3,000 students present at the rally, chanting slogans such as "free education for everyone" and "no education no country".
Tel Aviv District Police Chief David Tzur was present at the rally, and said that "the students asked to hold the demonstration only on University grounds. The moment they left the grounds, the police orders were to show restraint, because of what happened at the previous rally."
The police had recommended on Tuesday that the students file a request to hold the protest, but the students refused, maintaining that they would stay on University grounds.
Until the students started to block the roads, the police avoided direct physical contact with the demonstrators. However, after many hours of protesting, the students started to block roads leading to the University, without any previous approval.
"We respect the students' right to protest, but we will not accept road blockage or violent acts," Tzur said.
Late Tuesday night, the student union at Technion University in Haifa reversed its decision to back out of the strike, after many students were upset by the decision, arguing that it was liable to end the entire struggle without it having accomplished anything.
The main reason for the reversal was a poll which showed that over 80 percent of Technion students support the strike.
The initial decision to return to class came in response to a compromise proposal submitted by representatives of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
According to the proposal, there would be a tuition hike that would not affect students currently enrolled in colleges or universities, and some NIS 1 billion in budget cuts would be restored to higher education if all the educational reforms recommended by the Shochat committee - which the strikers oppose - are implemented.
However, the national student unions decided Monday to reject the proposal and to intensify their struggle.