In front of the University of Helsinki’s Porthania building, the camp supporting Palestine, with more than twenty tents, has been standing for almost a month.
The protestors’ tent camp has remained at the University of Helsinki for a month already. The photo report tells what the camp is like and what the protesters want.
Osweaty walkers stop to look, some raise their phone or camera in the air to take a picture.
There is a camp of more than twenty tents in front of the University of Helsinki’s Porthania building. Palestinian flags fly, the yard is full of signs and slogan sheets. The camp has been standing for almost a month and it shows: everyday life has spread out into the yard. They eat, sleep, clean and wash dishes there.
One the protesters do the dishes, small buckets serve as sinks. The task looks arduous, but you can’t really expect anything else in camp conditions.
The dishwasher gives HS’s cameraman permission to snap a picture of the situation, but at the very last moment, another protester intervenes. He wants to forbid filming, because he thinks HS is doing the story wrong.
In his opinion, the plan to film the camp’s day, everyday life and interview the participants is the wrong perspective on the story. He wants to forbid telling about the daily life of the camp and only talk about the issue: the situation of the Palestinians.
As a result of the intervention, the dishwasher, who allowed filming, reverses his decision.
Different colored attention vests can be seen on the demonstrators. Texts taped to their backs, such as Safer space and wellness, tell about the work in progress. Organizing a long protest camp also requires practical arrangements. Plenty of water and sunscreen must be available, dishes and laundry must be washed.
There have been several demonstrations in support of Palestine in recent months. Those camped in front of the university are just one of the many groups that support Palestine: the Students for Palestine collective.
The camp also has prayer rugs.
In practice camping in such a central location in the heart of Helsinki is easy and difficult at the same time. On the university premises in Porthania there are water points and Unicafe, on the other side of the street on the ground floor of Tiedekulma is the Unisport gym with showers.
In addition to the tents, a canopy that protects from the sun, sofas and carpets have been brought to the yard. We gather for them, for example, to hold a reading circle. There are prayer rugs in a cardboard box in one corner.
In the center, in the unfenced area, the demonstrators are constantly on display and vulnerable to harassment. The campers take turns guarding at night in case of disturbances.
Despite the community spirit, the camp is a protest and gathered for a cause, not for the camp school vibe, the protesters say. People would certainly leave, but we have to be here now, one of the protesters thinks.
Porthania’s glazed facade is full of signs and slogans affixed by protesters.
They demand an end to apartheid and genocide.
Protesters’ messages are attached to the doors of the Porthania building.
The name of the university building, Porthania, has been changed to Palestine. The wind has blown the letter L away.
The road on the other side, for those sitting on the steps of Tiedekulma To Alexander Vahera-Chibnik the question of Palestine is more personal than for many other Finns.
He says that he is Jewish, but took the side of the Palestinians in the conflict – according to his own words, because of morality and human rights.
He thinks about how he could settle in the area based on his religion, but at the same time those who have lived there for centuries should not do the same.
Alexander Vahera-Chibnik says that he is a Jew, but he sided with the Palestinians in the conflict – in his own words, because of morality and human rights.
Vahera-Chibnik also became active in the student movement already in the fall.
“As a Jew, I feel obliged to say that no, this is not related to hatred of Jews, but the opposite.”
“The stereotype that conclusions about political orientation could be drawn from what I inherited is precisely racism.”
The Porthania text above the building’s door is covered with cardboard signs. The strong wind swings the signs around from time to time, and the campers sometimes turn them back the right way around.
During the protest, the university’s operations will continue as usual for other students. Entrance exams are organized in Porthania, which are reminded of by signs demanding silence on the doors.
The demonstration does not make more noise in the camp than a normal gathering, for example there are no loud speakers in use.
A drawing of protesters near the tent camp.
The camp has been standing for almost a month and it shows: everyday life has spread out into the yard. They eat, sleep, clean and wash dishes there. The protesters’ laundry is drying near the camp.
University entrance exams have also been organized during the protests. Due to the exams, silence is required in the premises.
In the evening the moment arrives that has been planned all day in the camp. Around 6 o’clock, the group leaves for the center of Helsinki.
The group, which has grown to about three hundred, travels from Porthania to Kaivokatu. The drummer beats the beat to the screams.
“Free Palestine!”
The tram stop in front of the sausage house will be closed for the duration of the demonstration.
There have been several demonstrations in support of Palestine in recent months. The Palestinian flag flying in the center of Helsinki is no longer a surprising sight.
Those camped in front of the university are just one of many groups: the Students for Palestine collective.
Participants and routes vary from demonstration to demonstration, but the message remains the same.
A drummer beats the beat to the cries of “Free Palestine!”.
The tram stop in front of the sausage house was taken out of service due to the demonstration.
The procession proceeded to Kaivokatu in the center of Helsinki on Friday, May 31, 2024.
At the university the protesters demand three things: the termination of exchange agreements with Israeli universities, the termination of research cooperation with Israeli universities and state institutions, and the public listing of companies in which the university has invested.
The first of these has already been realized. At the end of May, the representative board of the Helsinki University Student Union (HYY) approved a member’s initiative that obliges HYY to support the academic boycott of Israel and to demand the same from the university.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, the university boycotted the country. The students’ collective wants the same decision for Israel. Camp life is to continue for as long as the university adapts to other requirements.
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