The Université Libre de Bruxelles ended the occupation of the P1 building on its Solbosch campus in Brussels on Saturday morning, with activists saying several people were arrested during the eviction.
The university confirmed the operation to Belga, while the group behind the occupation also acknowledged the eviction on social media and through Secours Rouge.
The occupation, led by Occupation Autonome ULB, had been under way since 22 October. It involved not only ULB students but also secondary school pupils and students from art schools.
The occupiers had renamed the P1 building ‘Aïcha Aboubaïa,’ after one of 12 Palestinian students from Gaza who are stranded at the border after being refused a visa by the Belgian authorities.
The student activists said they had occupied the building to create a meeting place where different social movements could discuss, organise and share resources. They said they had been open to dialogue with the university.
ULB had earlier issued an ultimatum ordering the students to leave the building by Thursday. According to the university, some refused to comply, although most had already left voluntarily.
The university then moved to end the occupation on Saturday and called in the police.
Rector Annemie Schaus said “fundamental limits” had been crossed. She cited vandalism, the intrusion into private offices and the disruption of university activities.
She also condemned what she described as numerous hateful slogans and explicit calls to violence written on the walls of the P1 building.
According to Schaus, the occupiers had not in fact been willing to engage in dialogue with the university. She said ULB had launched legal proceedings after attempts to reach a negotiated solution failed.
She added that the police intervened on Saturday morning with judicial authorisation and within the legal framework.
“Throughout this crisis, we prioritised dialogue because we were convinced that everything had to be done to avoid a forced end to the occupation,” Schaus said. But, she added, dialogue “does not mean that everything is acceptable.”
Schaus also said that “this very small minority” did not represent the university community or young people who are legitimately worried about their future and want to make their concerns heard.
“Such excesses must not be confused with legitimate protest action, which must have every opportunity to exist at ULB,” she said.
She thanked staff and students for their patience and said work to secure and repair the building had already been planned so that activities could resume as quickly as possible.
The activists confirmed the eviction online and via the Secours Rouge website, which describes itself as a left-wing, militant and anti-capitalist network supporting activists against what it sees as state repression.
According to the students, several activists were arrested during the eviction.
ULB also saw a previous occupation in May 2024, when students took over Building B in solidarity with the Palestinian people. That occupation lasted more than a month before police removed the students.
