Students at the University of California, Los Angeles, staged a pro-Palestinian protest while the university’s chancellor was being questioned by lawmakers in Washington regarding his response to an encampment that took place the previous month. The protesters initially formed a new encampment at the Kerckhoff Patio and created a barricade, but fled when the police arrived. U.C.L.A. warned the students that they would be arrested if they did not leave, and officers from the Los Angeles and Santa Monica police departments were called in, wearing riot gear and carrying batons.
University officials stated that the demonstrators were disrupting campus operations by barricading the patio area, and warned of possible disciplinary action and a seven-day campus ban for those who did not disperse. After the encampment was cleared, about 300 demonstrators gathered outside Murphy Hall chanting “Free Palestine” and urging the university to divest from companies supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. U.C.L.A.’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine called for support for the protest and criticized a congressional hearing on allegations of antisemitism, describing it as an attempt to censor pro-Palestinian movements.
The group condemned the hearing as a “textbook example of political theater” that conflated calls for Palestinian liberation with antisemitism in an effort to suppress pro-Palestinian activism, likening it to McCarthyism. U.C.L.A.’s chancellor, Gene D. Block, was called to testify before the House committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses. Lawmakers criticized Dr. Block for not clearing the encampment in April sooner and for not protecting students from a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters who attacked them. The police ultimately cleared the previous encampment and arrested over 200 pro-Palestinian protesters earlier in the month.
Despite facing pressure over its response to protests, U.C.L.A. took a hard line in handling the new encampment, warning protesters of potential arrest and calling in police officers with riot gear to disperse the demonstrators. There were skirmishes between officers and protesters as the police pushed the demonstrators away from the area. The university insisted that the demonstrators were disrupting campus operations by barricading the patio area and vowed to take disciplinary action against those who did not comply.
Following the clearing of the encampment, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Murphy Hall to continue their protest, calling for the university to divest from companies supporting Israel. U.C.L.A.’s Students for Justice in Palestine called for support for the protest and criticized the congressional hearing for allegedly conflating Palestinian liberation with antisemitism. The group labeled the hearing as a form of censorship and compared it to McCarthyism, accusing it of attempting to stifle pro-Palestinian movements. The university’s chancellor faced criticism from lawmakers for his handling of the previous encampment and his response to attacks on pro-Palestinian students by pro-Israel counterprotesters.
