By Benjamin (Benjie) Katz and Samantha Reavis
At approximately 9 AM, Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA announced via Instagram their Sukkah and encampment for Palestine. While the sukkah is traditionally a temporary structure dedicated to commemorating the Jewish Exodus from Egypt, SJP’s was named the “Gaza Solidarity Sukkah” and was accompanied by banners that read “Long Live the Intifada,” “UCPD Is Fascist Abolution Now,” “UCLA, Who Do You Protect?” “Disclose Divest,” “Divest from Genocide,” and “Blood on Your Hands.” The protesters shouted traditional anti-Israel slogans, including “Free, Free, Palestine” and “Israel is a Genocide State.”
Participants in the encampment wore keffiyehs and masks, which, according to University “Time, Place, and Manner” Policies, is prohibited. Additionally, the Sukkah and encampment were not permitted by the UCLA Events Office. At around 11 AM, an official of the University of California Fire Department approached the encampment, asking whether there was “anyone in charge” of the programming. As the official attempted to communicate with the crowd, one of the protesters pointed their megaphone into the official’s head and shouted “There is a genocide.” During the altercation, one member of the solidarity encampment asked the officer what would happen if someone simply “says that they are in charge.” Once the officer established that the name would be reported to UCLA officials, the student responded that there was “nobody in charge.”
When members of the encampment were approached for an interview, they referred student media to their “student media representative” Benjamin Kersten, a 6th year Art History Graduate Student and active member of Jewish Voice for Peace. Kersten described the equation of Zionism to Nazism as something that “doesn’t sit right with me,” and “distracting from grappling with the complexities of this history.” However, he claimed that the pro-Palestinian movement has been “a place open to learning about anti-semitism and Jewish culture” and that his Jewish identity plays a prominent role in his political activism.
In the afternoon, Chabad of UCLA shared the following statement with Ha’Am:
“Sukkot is a Jewish holiday commemorating Jewish people’s travels through the desert on their way to the promised land of Israel. It’s very disturbing to see our ancient religious practices co-opted by others and weaponized against us for purely political purposes.”
Image captured by Megan Freeman
