A tense confrontation at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) continued on Thursday night after police arrested at least 50 student and staff demonstrators at a campus encampment protesting Israel’s war on Gaza.
Despite the arrests, at least some students stayed on campus to continue their protest. According to UCLA Radio, others have returned to the protest site.
The protesters were asked to leave less than a day after the encampment was attacked by a pro-Israel group of counter-protesters, prompting criticism of the Los Angeles Police Department, whose officers were accused of not responding in time.
On Thursday morning, officers wearing body armor, helmets and face shields methodically pulled apart the barricade as protesters tried to hold together the assemblage of plywood and metal fencing.
Police launched flares that arced over the encampment, igniting with piercing blasts, and smoke filled the air from fire extinguishers that demonstrators sprayed at the police.
In recent weeks, UCLA, like other universities across the country, has emerged as a hotbed of pro-Palestinian activism.
UCLA students on April 25 engaged in a peaceful protest against Israel’s war on Gaza, and demanding that UCLA divest from companies with financial ties to Israel, acknowledge Palestinian lives and statehood and condemn Israel as an apartheid state.
Many protesters, even those who have been arrested, say they will continue their demonstrations no matter what.
Several senior politicians have criticised the attack on the pro-Palestinian protesters by the pro-Israel group late on Tuesday night.
California governor Gavin Newsom released a statement on Wednesday morning saying “I condemn the violence at UCLA last night.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released a statement on X on Wednesday afternoon saying that, “Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness.”
