Violent clashes erupted early on Wednesday morning on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators supporting Israel.
Police were deployed to the campus after the Israel supporters tried to tear down a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, according to the UCLA student newspaper Daily Bruin.
Footage from broadcaster KABC, an ABC affiliate, showed people wielding sticks or poles to attack wooden boards being held up as a makeshift barricade to protect pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom held placards or umbrellas.
Tensions reached breaking point
The Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave have unleashed the biggest outpouring of US student activism since the anti-racism protests of 2020.
As student rallies have spread to dozens of schools across the US in recent days expressing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, police have been called in to quell or clear protests.
UCLA 3:20 am, LAPD has successfully cleared the area separating both factions. However, overhearing police, their orders are not to arrest anyone or clear the encampment, simply to separate both opposing protest groups. pic.twitter.com/i9NtEGdG5O
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 1, 2024
About 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed in the Oct. 7 attack but the Israeli retaliatory assault has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health ministry figures, obliterated much of the enclave’s infrastructure, and created a humanitarian crisis.
The student protests in the United States have also taken on political overtones in the run-up to the presidential election in November, with Republicans accusing some university administrators of turning a blind eye to antisemitic rhetoric and harassment.
The Los Angeles Police Department said on X it was responding to UCLA’s request “due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus,” to restore order and maintain public safety.
Broadcast footage showed a police cordon slowly clearing a central quad beside the encampment.
Los Angeles Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose district includes UCLA, posted on X: “Everyone has a right to free speech and protest, but the situation on UCLA’s campus is out of control and is no longer safe.”