Security appeared ready Monday for an afternoon strike by students and faculty at UCLA in support of pro-Palestinian protesters, as a tent camp remained on the campus lawn at Dickson Plaza.
Monday marks the fifth day of protests at UCLA, and just after noon, faculty and students responded to the class strike call.
As SKYCal flew overhead, a group of about 100 students and faculty gathered, and around 12:30 p.m., they were allowed into the gated encampment one by one through controlled access, with a check-in station.
Signs held by attendees read “Faculty for Justice for Palestine,” “UCLA Faculty and Staff, We Stand with Our Students,” and “Walk to Gaza.”
The strike group continued to grow in size and more supporters trickled in during the afternoon.
The pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus was put into use Thursday morning, and things got physical between that group and the pro-Israel protesters on Sunday.
Protesters broke the physical barrier the school was set up to separate the groups, and the school board said a group of protesters breached the barrier, resulting in “physical altercation.”
Prior to Sunday, UCLA had said that demonstrators’ activity on campus had been mostly peaceful and had not disrupted any campus activities.
Mary Osako, vice chancellor of UCLA Strategic Communications, issued a statement Sunday saying, “UCLA has a long history as a place of peaceful protest, and we are heartbroken to report that some physical altercations broke out today among protesters at Royce Quad.
“We have since taken additional safety measures and increased the number of safety team members on site.”
Organizers of UCLA’s Palestine Solidarity Encampment, similar to their counterparts at the University of Southern California, have issued a list of demands calling for the divestment of all University of California and UCLA Foundation funds from companies with ties with Israel, along with demands that the university call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and an academic boycott by UC against Israeli universities, including a suspension of study abroad programs.
More protests surrounding the war in Gaza are planned at USC on Monday. Activists held a morning demonstration calling on the university president to initiate an “emergency student dialogue on campus” in response to the demonstrations.
Protest camps also went up Monday at UC Irvine and UC Riverside.
