Pro-Palestinian Protesters At UCLA Build Encampment After Arrests At Similar USC Demonstration

One day after more than 90 people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at USC, a similar encampment was erected at crosstown rival UCLA on Thursday, this time with protesters fortifying their position with wood pallets and other materials.

Students and demonstrators set up walls at an Pro-Palestinian occupation encampment protest on campus at UCLA on April 25, 2024.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Students and demonstrators have formed a Pro-Palestinian occupation encampment protest on campus at UCLA in front of Royce Hall on April 25, 2024.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

)

Students for Justice in Palestine and the UC Divest Coalition at UCLA set up in front of Royce Hall at the center of the Westwood campus with unfurled banners protesting the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.

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They join more than 20 other college campus demonstrations, mostly pro-Palestinian, in response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, who also reported about 250 people were taken hostage. Israel says about 100 of those original hostages are believed to remain captive. Israel’s bombing of Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women and children, according to the local health authority.

Vincent Doehr, a graduate student organizer and media liaison for the group, told LAist that the protest has been brewing for some time, and student frustrations have been simmering even longer, partly because of a lack of transparency over where their tuition money goes. 

“We've become very frustrated that the UC's not willing to divest that money,” Doehr said.

The encampment was cordoned off by pieces of wood, tents, and tables, and people were directed to a pair of check-in areas on either side before they were allowed to enter. A large hand-written poster of “community guidelines” was prominently displayed and included rules like no smoking and respect space.

Doehr said the guidelines were there to keep people safe and to make sure there’s accountability.

“We're planning on being here until our demands are met,” he said. “And we have five core demands.”

Those demands include calling on UCLA to divest from companies that profit off the conflict, a disclosure of where UC is investing tuition money, the UC system to cut ties with city police departments like the LAPD who police student activism, an end to academic collaboration with institutions that are profiting and collaborating with Israel, as well as an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

“There's a broad, diverse community here at UCLA,” Doehr said. “It's students, it's faculty, it's workers, it's alums. People who care, who have reason to care where their money goes.”

Mahmoud Abobaker, a UCLA senior who grew up as a Palestinian refugee, told LAist that school campuses are the birthplace of social change.

“It makes me feel like, you know, this spirit of solidarity that happened during the civil rights movement is again alive in the campus,” he said.

On Wednesday, more than 90 people were arrested at USC after they refused to disperse from a camp-in demonstration in Alumni Park.

USC has since closed its campus to the public and is only admitting people who can show a school identification or verifiable business there.

Students and demonstrators have formed a Pro-Palestinian occupation encampment protest on campus at UCLA in front of Royce Hall on April 25, 2024.

(

Brian Feinzimer

/

LAist

)

Students and demonstrators gather in a circle at an Pro-Palestinian occupation encampment protest on campus at UCLA on April 25, 2024.

(

Brian Feinzimer

/

LAist

)

Caroline Luce, a UCLA lecturer in the labor studies program, was holding onto one end of a blue and gold banner that read “UCLA Faculty and Staff We Stand With Our Students” in between Royce Hall and the encampment. She told LAist that she was “deeply troubled” by what’s been happening on campuses across the country, particularly at USC at UT-Austin, so she wanted to show support for the students. 

“We're obviously very pleased that the UCLA administration has thus far chosen not to take the kind of authoritarian enforcement oriented responses of some of their colleagues,” Luce said. “But we want to be sure that they know that if and when they were to do anything along those lines, that the students and faculty would stand together in support of freedom of expression and freedom of speech.”

Luce added that she’s impressed by the students’ commitment to peace and the level of organizing and coalition building it has taken for this kind of protest to come together.

“Be safe, protect each other, and don't forget why you're doing this,” she said.

Mary Osako, vice chancellor of UCLA Strategic Communications said in a statement to LAist, “our top priority is always the safety and wellbeing of our entire Bruin community. We’re actively monitoring this 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.”