US: What we know about violence targeting a pro-Palestinian camp on the UCLA campus

Tear gas, fireworks, sticks… Pro-Palestinian student mobilization in the United States has experienced an unprecedented episode of violence in Los Angeles since the movement began condemning the war in the Gaza Strip.

Clashes broke out Tuesday night at UCLA after counterprotesters attacked pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied parts of the campus for days.

What’s happened ?

The largely peaceful pro-Palestinian encampment set up at UCLA last week was attacked by counter-protesters just before midnight local time. The video shows the camp being besieged by dozens of masked and hooded people who appear to be trying to break through the barricades.

Some of them swung long sticks: at least one person in the camp was hit in the head before falling to the ground.

“Pepper spray, tear gas, boards, bricks, fireworks, not firecrackers, were fired directly at students,” Vincent Dore, a doctoral student in political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, who is in charge of media relations for protesters, told CNN.

“They threw paving stones at us, pipes, they tore apart wooden slabs to throw them at us,” Kaya Shah, another official, told AFP. “Every time those who tried to hold them showed their heads, they beat us, beat us. “According to her, 25 students were hospitalized.

Did the police intervene?

UCLA security forces arrived about two hours after the clashes began but did not initially intervene, an AFP journalist noted. Police in riot gear separated the two camps around 3 a.m. local time, pushing back counter-protesters.

“The limited and delayed response from UCLA campus law enforcement last night is unacceptable and requires answers,” California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom responded Wednesday. He added that the California State Police unit had to be deployed due to the incompetence of officers on campus.

Angus Johnston, a historian who specializes in US student activism at Hostos University in New York, worries: “The reason the situation at UCLA is so alarming is because we’ve seen it in the past. when the police and politicians tolerated the right. extremists to attack left-wing organizers,” he told AFP, referring to the “civil rights movement” and “against the Vietnam War.” Campus police did not respond to AFP queries.

About fifty UCLA professors condemned the leadership Wednesday. “The university has created a dangerous situation that came to a head last night,” said Graham Blair, professor of political science. “They’re allowing counter-protesters to be within 20 feet of this encampment,” he complained, suggesting counter-demonstrations could be allowed elsewhere on campus.

Are anti-protesters pro-Israel?

Some of the counter-protesters carried Israeli flags but did not appear to be students, several witnesses said. They add that many of them have passed through campus multiple times.

“From the first evening (those at the camp) were harassed by increasingly large groups of counter-protesters,” Dylan Winward, a journalist for the university’s Daily Bruin newspaper, told the BBC.

The masked and hooded attackers appeared to be “between 20 and 35 years old and did not look like students or anyone with any connection to the university,” Daniel Harris, a 23-year-old jazz student, told AFP, adding that . he did not recognize any of the “Jewish students who support Israel” he knew.

According to Professor Elizabeth O’Brien, “external provocateurs” chanting slogans like “USA! USA! ” or “fake news” is at the root of the violence. Apparently, the clashes continued for several hours. According to doctors, a man in his twenties was taken to hospital with a head injury.

A day after a hectic Wednesday night, the campus was relatively calm with a heavy police presence. Inside the camp, about a hundred tents, pro-Palestinian students still gather. Classes were canceled and management issued a statement saying it had launched “a thorough investigation that could lead to arrests, expulsions and terminations.” »