Violence erupts as pro-Israeli group storms Free Palestine Camp at UCLA

Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza have spread across the country

Muslim Network TV Desk

LOS ANGELES, Southern California –  Chaos erupted at the University of California, Los Angeles, when around 200 pro-Israel demonstrators forcefully entered a camp set up by Free Palestine supporters.

The confrontation, which started around 10:50 p.m. local time, escalated into a night marked by violence and injuries, raising serious concerns about student safety.

Earlier in the evening, police intervened at Columbia University to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied a building, demanding that the university divest from companies supporting Israel’s military actions.

According to UCLA’s independent student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, the pro-Israel group, clad in black and waving Israeli flags, broke through barriers and deployed tear gas on the Palestine supporters.

Eyewitness accounts describe a chaotic scene where university security struggled to manage the situation.

The violence at UCLA included fireworks being shot into the encampment, furniture being thrown, and a brutal incident where a group attacked an individual on the ground.

Despite earlier warnings from university officials that violence would not be tolerated, order was only restored when approximately 70 police officers arrived around 3 a.m.

Police took more than four hours to intervene.

Activists from the Free Palestine movement claim they acted in self-defense and criticized the university and law enforcement for failing to protect students adequately.

Police Chief John Thomas revealed that the limited police force on duty also came under attack during the confrontation.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the violence as “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,” and Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said it is closely monitoring the situation.

Other universities, including Brown University, have seen similar protests, with Brown agreeing to consider divestment from Israel.

Meanwhile, Northern Arizona University and The City College of New York faced their own tense standoffs with police.

On the same day a few hours earlier New York City officers entered Columbia’s campus after the university requested help.

A tent encampment on the school’s grounds was cleared, along with Hamilton Hall. Protesters had seized the hall at the Ivy League school about 20 hours earlier.

Just blocks away from Columbia, at The City College of New York, demonstrators were in a standoff with police outside the public college’s main gate.

Video posted on social media by news reporters on the scene showed officers putting some people to the ground and shoving others as they cleared people from the street and sidewalks.

At Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, police in riot gear closed in on an encampment late Tuesday and arrested about 20 people for trespassing.

According to a 2021 study conducted by Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Los Angeles houses 2nd largest federated Jewish community in the U.S. The community includes 565,000 Jewish individuals living in nearly 300,000 households.

Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza have spread across the country. The ensuing crackdown by police on some college campuses has stirred echoes of the much larger student protest movement during the Vietnam War era.