Pro-Palestinian Students Face Counterprotesters at UCLA
A camp-out by more than 200 students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) protesting in support of Palestine faced a counter-protest by hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators, leading to police blocking entrances.
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Mundo Palestina
The space next to the historic Royce Hall, where dozens of tents have been set up to house the students, is now protected by barricades and security guards, and no one enters without a wristband given by the camp organizers.
Also Read: 200 pro-Palestinian protesters detained at US universities (Portuguese version)
"This morning there was a massive Zionist protest with people shouting really vile and disrespectful slurs," Kaia Shah, a UCLA researcher and one of the camp organizers, told Lusa.
"We were surrounded by protesters shouting homophobic and racist slurs," she said, describing it as a "traumatizing experience" for the students who have been camping at UCLA since Thursday, April 25. The organizer estimated that the counter-protest gathered about a thousand people.
As the pro-Israel protesters approached the camp, other pro-Palestinian supporters not affiliated with the students formed a human chain to prevent physical confrontations. Despite the tension, the protests were peaceful and did not involve the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), with security being provided by university police.
Shah also said that a group of about 30 Israel supporters had spent the night from Saturday to Sunday playing loud music to prevent the students from sleeping in the tents.
"We don't want this to be a media stunt or for the focus to be on us or the United States, we want the focus to be on Gaza and the genocide," the organizer said.
Shah pointed to the death of over 34,000 Palestinians since October 7, when a Hamas attack on Israel left 1,200 dead and 240 hostages and triggered a war in retaliation.
Around the barricades, the perspective of the pro-Israelis was different. A mother who was accompanying her college-age son said she was shocked by the posters held by the pro-Palestinian sympathizers who had gathered at UCLA. "If Israel lays down its weapons, it's liquidated. If Hamas lays down its weapons, we have peace," she said.
On the ground around the camp, someone had drawn Stars of David in yellow chalk. Near the barricades, a counter-protester who identified himself as Judah Fire spoke into a megaphone about the divine right of Jews to the territory where Israel and the Gaza Strip are located.
"God gave us that land to bring light to the darkness," he told Lusa, explaining that he was bringing "a message of peace" and accusing the students in the camp of being "against all Jews."
In contrast, many pro-Palestinian sympathizers circulated around the campus to show their support for the students, holding posters and Palestinian flags and chanting "Free Palestine."
Rocío Navarro, who was a student when she led protests against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, was present to show her solidarity. "We see the cycle repeating itself," she criticized.
Abu Mus'ab also said he had gone to UCLA to support the protest, indicating that the intention was to increase the visibility of what is happening and to get people to research the war in Gaza and what he called a genocide.
"I have many friends who are directly affected by the war, losing their homes, having family members killed," he said.
Student Jonathan Giang, who was accompanying friends affiliated with the movement, said that all protests are legitimate as long as they remain peaceful.
"The police should let the encampment stay. They have the right to protest," he said, criticizing the action at the University of Southern California (USC), about 20 kilometers away, where the police dispersed protests and detained 93 demonstrators.
Kaia Shah also hopes that UCLA will let the camp stay and open negotiations with the students, who have a series of demands.
The main one is "the divestment of the University from companies that are profiting" from the conflict, with Shah singling out BlackRock and Exxon Mobil. Another demand is the disclosure of all recipients of UCLA investments.
"This struggle is not unique to one location or one group," Kaia Shah stressed. "We are fighting for the liberation of people all over the world," she continued, blaming "the system of Western imperialism."
At USC, the administration canceled the graduation ceremony after vetoing the graduation speech that was to be given by Muslim student Asna Tabassum, citing security concerns.
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