Just months after a UC-wide ban on encampments, anti-Israel students at UCLA set up tents in Dickinson Court North at 6:30 pm on Oct. 21, alongside a Gaza solidarity Sukkah— a religious structure that traditionally commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt. The encampment, erected during Ben Shapiro’s event nearby, was quickly dismantled by police just hours later.
“We anticipate it to get rough after the sun sets (6:30pm) and even worse as it gets later” read a message on the “UCLA Palestinian Solidarity Encampment” group chat with over 2,300 subscribers. The message, sent at 6:33 pm Monday evening, called for pro-Palestine UCLA students to mobilize to Dickinson Court North, where an encampment was being built alongside a Gaza solidarity Sukkah whose sign read “blood on your hands.” The Sukkah, a temporary hut-like structure where Jews are supposed to eat and sleep during the week-long celebration of Sukkot, had been up since 9 am Monday morning.
After the anti-Israel events of last academic quarter, University of California President Michael Drake banned encampments as well as masks used to “conceal identity,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times. In direct contradiction to these restrictions, Palestinian Solidarity group chat members were told to come with tents and sleeping supplies, “looking relatively incognito,” as students in the area had already been approached by police and private security who allegedly quickly retreated. An ADL spokesperson confirmed that the UCLA attempt was one of at least three encampments established since May on school campuses, with demonstration tents appearing at both Lewis & Clark College and Occidental College earlier this fall.
Simultaneously, in Ackerman Grand Ballroom, conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro stood at a podium condemning UCLA, his alma mater, for coddling “a generation of losers,” referring to students whose iconoclastic beliefs are simply a means for rebellion against a system which they can use as a scapegoat for their failures. When asked about his thoughts on the current encampments seemingly coincidentally being built mere meters away, Shapiro responded without missing a beat, “they’re schmucks,” and continued, referring to the administration’s role, “they should expel them.” The lawyer and author, who was barred from speaking at UCLA in 2017, drew a comparison of the anti-Israel protesters to other extremist groups, saying, “If they were white supremacists who set up their white supremacy hut in the middle of campus, they would be thrown out of university immediately. They would be gone. And everyone knows it.” Shapiro went on to make a distinction between UCLA and The University of Florida who were clear on their no tolerance policy on breaking campus rules, expelling any student that crossed the boundary when protesting earlier this year, as corroborated by WUFT from PBS.
Back at Dickinson Court— despite the Gaza solidarity Sukkah (which was placed under a tree making it ironically un-kosher) being upheld all day, the encampments were short-lived. As dozens more police arrived and closed in on the protestors, many scrambled to take down the encampment tents, while the rest ran in the opposite direction, attempting to flee the scene as quickly as possible. Signs surrounding the tents read “stop arming Israel” and “resistance is justified.” A Jewish UCLA student who was watching the chaos unravel from the sidelines noted that she and her friends attempted to discourse with the encampment protestors, but to no avail. “We couldn’t really get an answer out of anyone,” she said, “They’re not talking because they don’t even know what they’re supporting.” This is an increasingly common experience, with videos circulating earlier this year of protestors chanting “from the river to the sea” suddenly going silent when asked which river and which sea they are referring to, as depicted in an article from the Wall Street Journal. The lack of understanding about the cause for which they were advocating shockingly does not seem to have subsided, according to this UCLA student.
In a refreshing display of solidarity, the pro-Israel members from Shapiro’s event flooded Dickinson Plaza, making their position clear. “We don’t like that. We want everyone to leave. Everyone” one man spoke to the protesters in the make-shift Sukkah, with his hot pink Ben Shapiro wristband waving in the air. Compared to the palpable trepidation and silence from UCLA’s Jewish community much of last academic year, this proactive yet peaceful reaction proved necessary. When a man dressed in a keffiyeh, waving a Palestinian flag began attempting to indirectly argue a difference between anti-semitism and anti-zionism, yelling “Zionists against God,” the pro-Israel crowd unified in singing “Am Yisrael Chai,” translated as “Long live Israel.” The joy and unification that the Jewish people have held close for centuries through this song once again was used as a tool for drowning out the noise of division.
The views expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and not UCLA or ASUCLA Communications Board.
Cover Image by Megan Freeman
