A day after more than 90 people were arrested after an “occupation” by pro-Palestinian protestors at USC’s Alumni Park, protestors showed up at UCLA’s campus.
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By mid-morning, several dozen protesters were sitting and milling around inside the encampment, which was established around 4 a.m. The encampment slowly grew as the day wore on, with dozens of tents being erected and more protesters gathering.
People’s City Council – Los Angeles shared photos of the encampment on X. It also shared that the group’s demands include withdrawing funds from the UCLA Foundation that come from companies and institutions that are “complicit in the Israeli occupation,” and cutting ties with Israeli universities.
Kaya Shah, who took part in the demonstration, spoke with KNX News’ Margaret Carrero.
“Our purpose is to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide in to bring attention to the fact that over 34,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza and more and more people are being slaughtered every single day,” she said.
Gil Hoffman, a faculty member at the school’s Department of Psychology, said he doesn’t think “genocide” is the right word.
“I think, first of all, the Palestinian population has been increasing steadily throughout this time,” he said. “If anyone is putting Palestinians in harm, it's their government, Hamas.”
By the afternoon on Thursday, a small group of Jewish individuals, draped in Israeli flags, began what could be considered a counter protest.
One former student visiting for Passover from Israel told Carrero, "They're causing more division, more hate, not only against Jews, but also between me and my Palestinian cousins...Jews are not going anywhere, and Palestinians are not going anywhere, and what they're doing is they're causing more hate and division."
She said when she saw that Jewish students were too scared to come on campus, she felt obligated to show support.
In a statement to City News Service, Mary Osako, vice chancellor of UCLA Strategic Communications, said school officials were monitoring the situation “to support a peaceful campus environment that respects our community's right to free expression while minimizing disruption to our teaching and learning mission."
City News Service contributed to this article.
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