The home of Jonathan “Jay” Sures, one of the regents of the University of California, was the target of vandalism by pro-Palestinian groups the morning of February 5, 2025. The perpetrators of this act claimed to be a part of the UCLA chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine, and UCLA Rank and File. The Los Angeles Police Department was present at the scene with less-than-lethal rounds. Officers formed a line in front of Mr. Sures’ driveway for an unspecified amount of time before protesters left the area. It is unknown at this time if anyone was detained, arrested, or cited. [Screenshot from Graduate SJP Instagram]
The vandalism appeared to include the pasting of papers to the garage door of Mr. Sures’ residence in addition to the painting of multiple red hand prints. The protesters also strung a banner to the shrubbery in front Mr. Sures’ home that read “DISCLOSE DIVEST / WE WILL NOT STOP, / WE WILL NOT REST”. [Screenshot from SJP Instagram]
At the same time as the Instagram stories containing the images of the vandalism were posted, an Instagram post from the protesting organizations was put up which denounced Mr. Sures as a “virulently zionist capitalist” who is “the embodiment of how the Regents profit off genocide and police dissent on our campuses”.[Screenshot from SJP Instagram] The post also included information from unknown sources regarding investments and actions of the UC Board of Regents related to events in California, on UC campuses, and in the Middle East.
Jay Sures was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents in March 2020. His career has been focused in global entertainment and university administration.[1]
In October 2023, Mr. Sures sent a letter to the University of California administration regarding a statement put forth by the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council, a group comprised of Ethnic Studies departments and faculty from the 10 UC campuses. [2][3] The Council had supported the attacks of October 7, 2023 and opposed the University of California’s condemnation of those attacks.[4] Mr. Sures, who is Jewish, rebuked the statement from the Council and its members.[2]
The protest took place only three weeks after the State of Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire deal brokered by representatives from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.[5] More recently, US President Donald Trump announced a plan for a conquest of the Gaza Strip which left many unknowns surrounding future involvement of regional and world powers in the region.[6]
- https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/bios/jay-sures.html
- https://deadline.com/2023/10/uta-jay-sures-israel-palistinians-letter-uc-faculty-1235589019/
- https://www.ucethnicstudiesfacultycouncil.org/
- https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-statement-mideast-violence
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/31/biden-israel-hamas-ceasefire-proposal/
- https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/middleeast/takeaways-trump-gaza-proposal-intl-hnk
Cover image taken by author
