Tensions grow at UCLA over police order to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police in riot gear gathered on the UCLA campus Wednesday night and ordered a large group of pro-Palestinian protesters in a fortified camp to leave the area under threat of arrest, the night after they violent incidents instigated by opposing protesters occurred at the same location.

A small city had emerged between the barricades of the camp, gathering hundreds of people and tents on a campus esplanade. Some protesters offered Muslim prayers as the sun set over the campus, while others chanted “they will not move us” or passed around goggles and surgical masks. They wore helmets and headscarves, and talked about the best ways to manage tear gas while someone sang into a megaphone.

A few built homemade shields out of plywood in case they ran into police, who formed lines in another part of the campus. “For rubber bullets, who wants a shield?” asked one protester.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on the campus steps in front of the tents, sitting while listening to and applauding various speakers and joining in with the pro-Palestinian chants. A small group of students holding signs and t-shirts supporting Israel and the Jewish people were demonstrating nearby.

The police presence and continued warnings were a contrast to the scenes the night before, when counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian camp, throwing down traffic cones, spraying tear gas and tearing down barriers. Clashes continued for several hours before police intervened, although no arrests were made. At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the authorities’ lukewarm response was criticized by political leaders, Muslim students and activist groups.

Ray Wiliani, who lives nearby, said he had come to UCLA on Wednesday afternoon to support the pro-Palestinian protesters.

“We must stand up,” he said. “Stop”.

Elsewhere, police made arrests in New Hampshire and removed tents at Dartmouth College, while in Oregon officers arrived at the Portland State University campus as officials tried to end the library occupation that began Monday. .

The chaotic scenes at UCLA came just hours after New York police stormed a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday night, dispersing a protest that had paralyzed the school.

A count by The Associated Press counted at least 38 incidents with arrests in protests on university campuses since April 18 in the United States. More than 1,600 people have been arrested in 30 schools.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that “a group of instigators” showed up the night before to “violently attack” the pro-Palestinian camp, but gave no details about the group or why neither the university nor the The university police had intervened before.

“Regardless of what one thinks about the camp, this attack on our students, teachers and community members was totally unacceptable,” Block said. “It has shaken our campus to its foundations.”

Block promised the university will conduct a thorough investigation. Authorities have not clarified whether all of the protesters were students.

The head of California universities, Michael Drake, ordered an “independent audit of the university’s preparations, its actions and the response of security forces.”

“The community should feel that the police are protecting them, not allowing others to harm them,” Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said at a news conference on the Los Angeles campuses Wednesday. afternoon, in which some Muslim students gave details about what happened during the night.

Speakers disputed the university’s version that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, stating that the number of injured people who were taken to hospital was much higher. One student said he had to go to the hospital after being hit in the head with an object brandished by one of the attackers.

Several of the students who spoke at the news conference said they had to support each other, rather than rely on the police, during the attack, and that many in the pro-Palestinian camp remained calm and did not clash with the side. opposite. UCLA canceled classes Wednesday.

Protest camps demanding universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza have spread to campuses across the country, in a student movement not seen this century. The police response has been similar to that of several decades ago against much larger movements protesting the Vietnam War.

A brawl broke out in Madison early Wednesday after police with shields removed all but one tent and pushed protesters away. Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said. Four people were accused of attacking security forces.

All of this comes during an election year in the United States, raising questions about whether younger voters will back President Joe Biden’s re-election bid, given his government’s strong support for Israel.

In a few cases, university officials and protest leaders reached agreements to limit interference with campus life and impending graduation ceremonies.

Trustees at Brown University in Rhode Island agreed to consider a vote on divesting from Israel in October, apparently the first American university to agree to such a demand.

Student demonstrations began in Columbia on April 17 to protest the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which followed the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. The militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Health Ministry.

Israel and its allies have called the student protests anti-Semitic, while Israel’s critics say such accusations are used to silence the opposition. Although some protesters have been recorded making anti-Semitic comments, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and denounce the war.

Meanwhile, other protest encampments were cleared by police, resulting in arrests, or voluntarily set up at universities across the country, including the City College of New York, Fordham University in New York, State University of Portland in Oregon, Northern Arizona in Flagstaff and Tulane in New Orleans.

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Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report, including John Antczak, Christopher L. Keller, Lisa Baumann, Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mattise, Stefanie Dazio, Jae C. Hong, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, Sarah Brumfield, Carolyn Thompson , Philip Marcelo, Corey Williams and Felicia Fonseca.