Pro-Palestinian protesters, demanding divestment from Israel and an end to the country’s military actions in Gaza, set up several new tent encampments at colleges and universities in California this week.
Tensions have escalated and arrests have been made as protesters continue to police areas on the campuses of UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Occidental College, Sacramento State, San Francisco State, Cal Poly Humboldt and others.
At least 25 people were arrested early Tuesday at Cal Poly Humboldt. Protesters at USC have also been arrested and those at UCLA are facing disciplinary action from the college.
Here’s a look at what’s happening across the state:
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate near their encampment in the central part of the UC Irvine campus.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
University of California, Irvine
Protesters at UC Irvine clashed Tuesday with campus police, who were handing out citations.
The situation marked an escalation of tensions on the Orange County campus and reflects intensifying protests taking place at universities across the country.
A group gathered around campus police as they wrote a woman unaffiliated with the school a citation for her role in the protest. The woman, who has not been identified, was told she needed to leave campus immediately.
More than two dozen protesters formed a line outside the camp and chanted “UCPD, KKK, IOF, you’re all the same” and “Shame, shame, shame on you, you have blood on your hands too.”
Campus police erected additional barricades around 3 a.m. Tuesday to surround the encampment, which was set up Monday, but did not order anyone to disperse.
Protesters responded by expanding the encampment footprint to the barricades. Over the past day, the encampment, located between John V. Croul Hall and Rowland Hall, has grown from a dozen tents to more than 20.
UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman said in a statement Monday that administrators contacted students at the “existing illegal encampment” and asked them to move to another location. The space they occupy is in an area where classes are taught and research is conducted, Gillman said.
“We hope that our students and other affiliates will not insist on remaining in a space that violates the law, violates our policies and disrupts our mission,” he said.
But Sarah Khalil, 21, a fourth-year student, said the protesters had no plans to move or take down their tents.
The group displayed a banner listing its demands: end funding for “violent extremism,” promise amnesty to student protesters, commit to an academic boycott of Israel and remove what the group calls “Zionist programming “.
“We are here for something bigger than ourselves. We are here because of a genocide and we do not want our money to be used for this genocide,” Khalil said.
UCLA
At UCLA, protesters clashed during a large but mostly peaceful rally this weekend, not far from where pro-Palestinian students have been camped out in tents for days.
Physical altercations between protesters Monday prompted the university to increase its law enforcement presence, officials said.
Pro-Palestinian protesters hold a rally of students and faculty on Monday at Dickson Plaza, an encampment on the UCLA campus.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Administrators also took disciplinary action against several protesters after reports that they had blocked a student’s access to the classroom, Mary Osako, a UCLA spokeswoman, said in a statement.
“This kind of disruption to our mission of teaching and learning is abhorrent, plain and simple,” she said. “While the protest remains largely peaceful, our campus must remain a place where we treat each other with respect and recognize our common humanity – not a place where we descend into violence and intimidation. »
UC Riverfront
As UC Riverside students also protest the war between Israel and Hamas, a spokesperson said “all operations on campus are proceeding as usual.”
UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox said in a letter to the campus community Monday that “the crisis has affected many people on our campus in personal and profound ways.”
But, she added, “speech and activities that disrupt campus operations are not protected.” Large signs and banners will be removed, and blocking access to campus sites will not be tolerated, she said in a statement.
Pitzer College
In Pitzer, where students have occupied a camp of around 25 tents for five days, tensions between the demonstrators and the administration have remained low.
Although campus security vehicles occasionally parked near the encampment, no university or local law enforcement officials intervened.
“The atmosphere is really happy,” said Sophie McClain, a senior and co-organizer of the event. “We have been very fortunate to have had limited, if any, crackdown from the college.”
A Jewish pro-Palestinian activist paints part of a pro-Palestinian mural on the side of Mead Hall on the Pitzer College campus in Claremont.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
McClain said many students spend time at the camp during the day, socializing, working on their final assignments and playing music. At night, 20 to 30 students sleep in their tents. The camp is growing, she said, with a few new tents added each night.
There are community meals, study sessions and other programs throughout the day.
“Pitzer respects students’ rights to peacefully protest and express themselves,” Vice President and Dean of Students Jan Barker Alexander wrote in a statement to campus. “We hope that safety remains everyone’s primary concern.”
Western College
About 60 students set up camp around 4 a.m. Monday at Occidental College.
Protesters worked in the dark before dawn to avoid possible security concerns on campus, said co-organizer Matthew Vickers, a diplomacy and global affairs student.
“We wanted to be as clandestine as possible so as not to be interrupted,” said Vickers, a member of the Western chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Dozens of tents occupied the quad in the center of campus. Students lounged on the grass, chatted with friends and worked on laptops under tents. Vickers said campus security officers stopped by Monday morning but were respectful and did not interfere.
In an email to faculty and staff Monday afternoon, Western President Harry J. Elam Jr. said the encampment had “thus far engaged in peaceful protest” and that the college would “remain firm in (its) commitment to ensuring that any dialogue or protest remains. safe and peaceful. »
U.S.C.
At USC, where Los Angeles police arrested 93 people on suspicion of trespassing last week while clearing an encampment in the center of campus, a reestablished campground has been mostly quiet this week.
Each day begins with a daily briefing and includes classes, teacher-led poetry readings, yoga, and crafts. Volunteers provided enough food for campers to eat three meals a day.
USC students protesting the war in Gaza spend time in a tent encampment set up at Founders Park.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Participants declined to give their names, citing security concerns.
“I think the narrative is that we’re a safety issue or we’re scaring other people, when in reality it’s a place of care and love,” said one participant involved in the USC Divest from Death Coalition. “We are all here because ultimately we believe in humanity.”
Cal Poly Humboldt
After a tense overnight standoff with Gaza war protesters at Cal Poly Humboldt, police moved in early Tuesday and arrested at least 25 people, including students and faculty.
As part of the operation, officers said they cleared Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall East, which had been occupied for a week. The campus remains closed and it is unclear when it will reopen.
“It’s a difficult day. It breaks my heart to see this, and truly no one wanted to see things come to this. We have all watched this matter with great concern, and always with the sincere hope that it would be resolved peacefully,” Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr. said in a statement. “Unfortunately, serious criminal activity, well beyond the level of a protest, has placed the campus in ongoing danger. »
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