🦄 Protest & Direct Action , 🦄 Racism & Far-Right

Masked Israel Supporters Attack UCLA’s Palestine Solidarity Encampment With Weapons

By Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot

Los Angeles, CA — Over more than five hours on Tuesday night, pro-Israel Zionist agitators violently beat, pepper sprayed and threw fireworks at hundreds of college students and protesters in a “unilateral, surprise attack“ as they held UCLA’s Palestine solidarity encampment while security and police stood by idly. Though police didn’t intervene until the fifth hour of the attack, the encampment stayed intact with the students repelling the continuous onslaught as they defiantly chanted “we’re not leaving” and “Free Palestine.”

The students kept the encampment together despite the violence with a policy to not engage and acting in a defensive posture. Students maintained some of the barricades made of wood and metal that protected the encampment while being punched, pummeled, kicked, hit with projectiles and sprayed with chemicals.

A communique from a group of autonomous UCLA students that was sent out to media is posted at the end of the article and notes that the students feel like the violence they faced was “aided and abetted by [the] administration.”

The pro-Israel vigilantes, many donning all black with masks on, became more emboldened as the night went along. A large police contingent that showed up four hours into the attack waited in the grass across the quad for an hour as dozens more attacks occurred.

Attackers were recorded screaming “second Nakba” referring to the violent mass expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians in 1948 to make way for the state of Israel. Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds said live during their broadcast that to him, the scenes were “reminiscent of settler violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank without the guns.

The pro-Palestinian students who were attacked while eating lentils held their ground throughout the night with over one hundred reported hurt and treated by street medics as police reportedly prevented EMTs from entering.

Twenty people are reported to have been treated for concussions. At least four journalists with the campus’s newspaper, the Daily Bruin, were targeted and assaulted by the Israeli supporters.

Dozens of journalists were documenting through the night. Watch a live stream from independent journalist William Gude (Film The Police LA) from the night below to see the violent events transpire.

A student-led, anti-genocide, pro-Palestine movement has swept the nation over the past two weeks with Gaza solidarity encampments popping up across the country calling on educational institutions to divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers.

With several hundred tents, the UCLA Palestinian encampment is one of the largest and most contentious encampments among the 50-plus campus pro-ceasefire encampments across the nation. As of April 27, over $67,000 had been raised by the pro-Israeli side through a GoFundMe to counter the demonstration. The campaign featured donations by celebrities including Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

Attacks on the encampment have been ongoing for several days and have been done primarily by middle-aged adults against young college students. Zionist instigators such as boxing gym owner David Kaminsky have been documented spitting on protesters and yelling anti-Black slurs.

The day before the large scale assault on the encampment, many of the outside Zionist attackers attempted to breach the barricades. They used psychological tactics similar to those used in Gaza by the Israeli Army including blaring the sounds of babies crying over loud speakers, playing the Hatikvah (Israeli national anthem), Israeli children’s songs and more. The speakers were brought out during Tuesday night’s attack as well.

Just hours before the assault began, on the other side of the country, the New York Police Department carried out a massive violent operation to clear an occupied building at Columbia University, arresting an estimated 50 people along with bystanders outside.

This movement has been excessively and violently repressed by militarized police forces. Over 1,000 college students and protesters have been arrested over the last two weeks in the United States.

The following statement was sent to media from a coalition of affinity groups at UCLA:

Communique from a group of autonomous UCLA students after Zionist attacks on night 6 of Palestinian Solidarity Encampment.

we are a coalition of autonomous affinity groups and frustrated security leadership members in the UCLA encampment dedicated to the Palestinian resistance.

we are inspired by the encampments all over the country and the UCLA camp specifically, and are honored to be in community building this space with our comrades. However, we are also frustrated with shit going down and hope to put this out for others who feel the same in the camp or students who feel similar in other encampments across the globe.

the following is just a few points we feel are important to express, especially following the zionist attacks on our camp, including but not limited to chemical weapons, explosive devices, and psychological terror aided and abetted by administration.

1. Against Leadership

we want to stress that we are attacking leadership as a concept, not individual leaders. While we appreciate and are inspired by SJP, JVP, etc. leadership we need to stress that we need to move past “leadership” and towards autonomy.

we have noticed a trend of the desire to appear peaceful for the media taking precedent over the right of protestors to self defense, mirroring the world’s response to Palestinians’ right to self defense in the face of blatant fascist attacks and eliminationist violence.

we cannot allow our resistance movement to demand obedience over safety in the same way as western imperialist forces against the colonized.

2. Abolition Begins in the Encampment

NO FUCKING PEACE POLICE. Advocating for non-violence while we are actively under attack is bullshit.

we are not here to recreate the outside world in this encampment. We are here because we know a different world is possible, and are actively working towards it.

stressful situations lead to responses that are engrained in us, such as hierarchy and policing, but we can fight this.

think about in what ways we can work to dismantle the cops in our heads.

3. Fuck your Fire Code – Against Any Collaboration

anyone working with admin (fire marshalls, construction crews, etc.) are collaborating with cops and interacting with them puts us at risk.

it is one thing to keep up appearances of obedience when necessary and do what we want when the coast is clear, but actual collaboration is not an option.

in a post 9/11 amerikkka the use of “safety” as an excuse for increased policing should not be a tactic we fall for anymore.

the class nature of certain employees on campus does not necessarily make them our allies.

4. On Grace and Solidarity

Our position within this movement necessitates that we, as comrades, are in constant solidarity with each other even as we learn and grow.

for many of us, organizers included, this is our first radical direct action. People in this camp might not know things that people who are more experienced in direct action understand and we need to hold space to teach each other and make mistakes without vitriol or withdrawing our solidarity.

our petty differences and mistakes cannot be an excuse for us to not have each others backs in the face of violence and repression.

with these points being said, we want to stress the need to escalate for Gaza.

ALL POWER TO THE STUDENTS!
ALL POWER TO PALESTINE!

End of statement

Cover image via screenshot from Sergio Olmos social post.

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Categories: Protest & Direct Action, Racism & Far-Right
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Published May 1, 2024
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