Pro-Gaza Protesters Defiant at US Campuses Despite Police Crackdown

Hundreds of helmeted police descended onto the campus of the UCLA after darkness fell on Wednesday (US timing), preparing to clear out a pro-Palestinian protest camp attacked the previous night by pro-Israel supporters.

Starting around sunset, officers in tactical gear began filing onto the UCLA campus adjacent to a complex of tents set by throngs of demonstrators.

The demonstrators, many wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, chanted, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop. We will not rest,” and “Free free Palestine.”

Thousands of protesters continue to gather outside the UCLA encampment to protect student protesters from an expected repression by LAPD.

Credit: @ConnorASheets pic.twitter.com/D7knBk6jDr

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 2, 2024

In the early hours of Wednesday, UCLA was the site of some of the worst violence seen in the protests so far, when pro-Israel forcefully attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus.

Fifteen people were injured during the UCLA confrontation, including one person who was hospitalized, while multiple news reports said security guards and law enforcement officials at the scene initially retreated or failed to intervene.

UCLA had canceled classes for the day following a violent clash early on Wednesday between prompted by a surprise by pro-Israel protesters on the tent city.

Members of the pro-Palestinian group said fireworks were thrown at them and they were beaten with bats and sticks. University officials blamed the disturbance on “instigators” and vowed an investigation.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested across US campuses, with The Washington Post reporting that the number of arrests exceeded 1,700.

Demonstrators have set-up encampments on at least 30 campuses across the US and are demanding that academic institutions stop doing business with the Zionist entity or companies that are connected to the Israeli military’s war in Gaza.

Hundreds of students across top US universities have been detained amid intensifying pro-Palestine campus protests demanding an end to Israel’s carnage in Gaza and pressing university administrations to cut ties with firms supporting Israel’s ongoing assault on the besieged… pic.twitter.com/LVS04TjGVA

— TRT World (@trtworld) April 26, 2024

The pro-Gaza encampments took place also in Columbia University in New York, City University of New York, Fordham University in New York, University of Wisconsin in Madison, University of Arizona in Tucson, University of Texas in Dallas and Tulane University in Louisiana’s New Orleans.