On May 1st at 11:30 am, University of California San Diego students rushed to set up an encampment to protest the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The protest was organized by a campus group, Students for Justice in Palestine. Soon, the grass surrounding the well-traveled Library Walk was covered in tents. A fence was quickly built around the camp, with various protesters acting as guards surrounding the barrier made from wooden posts and plastic tarps. Protesters wore kufiyas and put up flags to show their solidarity with the people in Palestine. Packs of water and food were brought to the camp in stock. In addition, medical supplies were added inside. About a half hour later, the police and the UCSD Administration, who were wearing bright yellow hats, appeared. A few minutes later, a banner was hung from one of the canopies of the encampment. The banner listed demands for UCSD. The demands read, “End the Silence, Campus Wide Boycott, Amnesty for all, Divest.”
A protester who identified herself as Hala, a senior member of SJP, said, “I’m here for my family in the West Bank, my friends in Gaza who have suffered all the atrocities, the ethnic cleansing, the apartheid, and the genocide at the hands of the Israeli government… I’m here in solidarity with the over a hundred campuses across the world who have camped out demanding for our institutions to fully divest from Israeli corporations and the Israeli government in itself.” UCSD invests 32 billion in the U.S. treasury, various groups tied with weapons manufacturing, Israeli-based investment manager companies Blackrock and Blackstone, and more. Divesting would mean pulling out of investments in those companies.
As time passed, the number of protesters increased. People outside the camp began to ask protesters inside how they could join the encampment. A protester who identified herself as Leslie, a lecturer at UCSD and representing Faculty in Justice for Palestine, said, “I am also here to support our students because they are taking risks, they are being brave, and it’s the least I can do and our faculty can so to show up for them.”
At around 6:00 pm, a chanting crowd was formed outside the encampment calling for divestment and the end of the occupation in Gaza. A small group of counter-protesters soon arrived, and an announcement was made not to engage with the group. As night fell, eventually, protesters retired to their tents. On May 5th, a large group of about 100 counter-protesters arrived at the still-installed encampment. From May 1st to May 6th, the encampment continued until the morning of the 6th, when police raided the camp and arrested students and faculty. Protesters claimed that they were beaten by police with batons and had pepper spray discharged at them. The UCSD SJP Instagram posted multiple videos from May 6th depicting protesters being hit with batons and others having mace sprayed on them. Sixty-five people were arrested and put on a bus to be sent to jail. Protesters blocked the bus chanting “Let them go” and “Peaceful protest.” About 40 were students who ended up suspended. Campus protests for freedom in Palestine continue across the world and will likely continue until the conflict in Palestine is resolved.
