Pro-Palestinian Protestors Make Last Stand as Police Disband UCLA Encampment

Police commanders on the UCLA campus could have given orders of “hold the line” and “pass the helmets to the front.”

However, these commands were actually coming from the leaders of a pro-Palestinian student encampment as they tried to rally their troops.

Access to the tented camp, mainly occupied by students for the past week, has been limited for journalists.

I was there to witness their last stand from the inside.

The protesters were outnumbered and outmatched in terms of equipment compared to the police. While the police had rubber bullets and riot shields, the protesters had wooden pallets and umbrellas for protection.

Despite the odds, they held their ground for hours, reinforcing a perimeter around the camp by tying tarpaulin sheets together with string and cable ties.

Read more: Why are university students protesting in the US?

When the barricades were broken down by officers, they linked arms in defiance, chanting “shame” at the police.

Riot police started dismantling the barricades from the outside and were met with chemical spray from the protesters. One officer reacted violently after inhaling the substance.

The air was filled with smoke and the sound of flashbangs, constantly fired by police.

Rubber bullets were discharged into the crowds, leading to at least one man being stretchered off as a result.

Some students were pushed to the ground and arrested individually. “This is ridiculous,” one shouted while being taken away.

According to two law enforcement sources, between 200 and 300 people were arrested.

Most, if not all, of those arrested are expected to be cited and released for misdemeanours such as trespassing, vandalism, and/or assaulting police officers.

There will be scrutiny on the size and intensity of the police response and whether it was justified.

This was primarily a peaceful protest, with students demanding the university sever funding ties with Israel.

The situation turned violent only on Tuesday evening when counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian group, throwing objects and fireworks into the camp.

For nearly three hours, the police were nowhere to be seen, leaving students injured and bruised.

The violent incidents over two consecutive nights at UCLA, and across the country as this movement spreads, prompted President Biden to address the issue publicly for the first time.

“Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is,” he stated from the White House.

“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest – it’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation: none of this is a peaceful protest.”

I witnessed the damage done to Royce Hall at UCLA, one of the most prestigious buildings in one of America’s top universities.

The once beautiful stone archway is now covered in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli graffiti, with “f*** Israel” on the walls and “free Gaza” spray-painted on the ground.

The protesters may argue that property damage is minor compared to the suffering of the people of Gaza.

However, the way they are expressing their message is undeniably divisive.