Dear friends,

It has been 7 months since the last update. 7 more months of an escalating genocide, 7 more months of the deliberate starvation of Gazans and the denial of the most basic humanitarian products such as sanitary products, medicines, fuel, and clean drinking water. A widespread man-made famine in Gaza has been officially confirmed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), while the international association of genocide scholars (IAGS) have declared that Israel’s policies and actions meet the legal definition of genocide. Israel even bombs Palestinian peace delegations hosted by US allies with no consequence. There can be no doubt, Israel is conducting a campaign of extermination against the Palestinian people to achieve Zionism's historic goal of creating an ethno-religious state across all of historic Palestine via ethnic cleansing, without regard for the prisoners taken by the Palestinian resistance on October 7th.

In the context of the horrors of the past 16 months, May 2024 seems a lifetime ago. And yet, the students who peacefully protested against the institutional complicity of ETH Zurich in the Palestinian genocide are now fighting their charges. Criminalised for sitting down in the main hall in the building, neither disrupting classes nor posing a threat, to raise awareness of ETH Zurich’s ties to Israel and companies profiting from this genocide.

It is difficult to comprehend how the Schulleitung at ETH Zurich can justify this course of action. How they can claim to prepare leaders and thinkers of the future, while criminalising any who dare to speak out against a genocide? International law is clear, ETH Zurich has an institutional obligation to prevent its complicity in a genocide, and must also safeguard the universal human right to freedom of assembly and association. What motivations can they have to not only cause significant mental and financial distress to their own students, but to violate their obligations under international law and the Swiss constitution?

The hearings at the district court are now underway, at which the judge (a member of the right-wing SVP) controversially requested a significant police presence (reminiscent of a terror trial). It is therefore highly unlikely that the students will be succesful in their initial legal challenge. Now, more than ever, the students require your support, be it financial or by raising awareness amongst your friends, family, and colleagues. Their legal struggle is a broader struggle for all of our rights, and we must not allow a precedent where peaceful protest against a genocide is criminalised. In the face of the rising tide of authoritarianism, now, more than ever, we must fight to retain our fundamental human rights.

Links to the fundraisers (for those in Switzerland or abroad) can be found here: 
Direct bank transfer (preferred): 
Verein zum Schutz der Meinungsfreiheit (VSM)
8003 Zurich, Switzerland
IBAN: CH42 0900 0000 1656 6753 3
BIC/SWIFT: POFICHBEXXX

GoFundMe campaign:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-protesting-studentactivists-ETHZurich

Thank you for your continued solidarity with the students
Max