New Delhi: As protests take place across US university campuses against Israel’s war in Gaza and the US administration’s support for in it, a pro-Israel group of masked people has attacked a students’ camp set up supporters of Palestine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The violence by disruptors comes amidst news of law enforcement using excessive force on students peacefully demonstrating against the ongoing war in other campuses like Columbia University and Emory University. This attack also comes amidst the claim from pro-Israel commentators, government functionaries, and university administrations that these peaceful Gaza solidarity protests are ‘anti-Semitic’ and that Jewish students are “unsafe” as a result of them.
The attack took place, according to reports, for close to two hours on the evening of Tuesday, April 30. The BBC reported how the office of California’s governor has criticised the police response, calling it “limited and delayed”.
The following is a statement by history faculty members at UCLA, expressing horror over what they have noted is the university administration’s abdication of its responsibility to protect and support students.
The statement also observed that many among the attackers “were middle-aged men; some shouted white supremacist slurs; and others brandished flags linked to violent, right-wing organizations.”
Referring to the ongoing student protest against the Gaza war, the faculty members said, “We want the university to stand up for the safety and the rights of the campus community by defending the continuing existence of the encampment. The encampment must be protected and the rights of peaceful protests upheld.”
The full text of it is produced below.
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We, members of the History Department, a number of whom were present during the events of the night of 30 April to 1 May, strongly condemn the mob attack on our students and the university’s failure to support our students’ right to protest peacefully and to be kept safe while doing so.
The encampment itself had been a model of its kind: it was limited to members of the university community through the checking of IDs to gain access; participants made continual efforts to avoid engagement with hecklers; and it maintained its focus on its own concerns. This orderly and self-disciplined environment seemed to have the support of the university administration, which initially praised its decorum. This policy on the part of the UC and UCLA administration earned high praise for its restraint and for its clear dedication to protecting the rights of students to protest peacefully.
In a sharp reversal, on 30 April, President Drake issued a statement declaring that the encampment was “unlawful,” and Chancellor Block called it “unauthorized.” Such statements withdrew official protections from these peaceful student activities, making the students vulnerable to attack. Later that night, the campus was invaded by a violent mob of individuals including many not affiliated with the campus community. History faculty who were present reported that many were middle-aged men; some shouted white supremacist slurs; and others brandished flags linked to violent, right-wing organizations. The security personnel who had been stationed around the barricade left the scene, abandoning it to attack. The violent mob used toxic spray, fireworks, pieces of the barricade, pipes, boards, and bottles to assault the students and faculty inside the encampment. They tore the barricades apart to get at the students inside. During this time, the security personnel and campus police made no effort to stop them. Student journalists and faculty observers outside the encampment were also threatened and assaulted. When police finally arrived many hours later, they watched the attacks, failing to come to the aid of those in the encampment. Some history department faculty who were at the scene reported that police, far from putting a halt to the violence, seemed to be marching alongside the mob. No emergency aid was provided to the students who were bleeding, gassed, or concussed. Today we heard many first-hand accounts of the violence and the lack of support from police and security forces.
Also read: I Was One of 19 NYU Faculty Members Arrested For Protecting Student Protesters. Here’s What I Think
We want to object in the strongest possible terms to this travesty. We are horrified that Chancellor Block abdicated his responsibility to protect and support students. His statements (and those of President Drake) opened the way to these attacks on our community. The exemplary nature of this encampment made it a target for those who oppose the free exercise of views other than their own. We demand that the Chancellor and the President be held accountable for their actions in sacrificing student safety and liberties to political expediency. We call for the resignation of Chancellor Gene Block.
We want the university to stand up for the safety and the rights of the campus community by defending the continuing existence of the encampment. The encampment must be protected and the rights of peaceful protests upheld.
Signed:
Carla G. Pestana, Distinguished Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair
Koh Choon Hwee, Assistant Professor
Bharat Venkat, Associate Professor
Elizabeth O’Brien, Assistant Professor
Miloš Jovanović, Assistant Professor
Fernando Pérez-Montesinos, Assistant Professor
Kevin Kim, Assistant Professor
Hollian Wint (Frederick), Assistant Professor
Katherine Marino, Associate Professor
Jared McBride, Assistant Professor
Katsuya Hirano, Associate Professor
Kevin Terraciano, Professor, Robert Burr Chair of History
Mary Corey, Senior Continuing Lecturer
Ghislaine Lydon, Associate Professor
Michael Meranze, Professor
Jim Gelvin, Distinguished Professor
Andrea Goldman, Associate Professor
Valerie Matsumoto, Professor, Aratani Chair on the Japanese American Incarceration, Redress, and Community
Tobias Higbie, Professor
Caroline Ford, Professor
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor & Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Social Sciences
Brenda Stevenson, Professor and Nickoll Family Endowed Chair in History
Greg Woolf, Distinguished Professor and Ronald J.Mellor Chair
Soraya de Chadarevian, Professor
