clashes in Los Angeles on the sidelines of pro-Palestinian student demonstrations

The California campus of the University of UCLA was the scene of very violent clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and pro-Israeli counter-protesters.

Violent clashes took place on the night of Tuesday April 30 to Wednesday May 1 on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. Clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who occupy a campus esplanade, and a group of pro-Israeli counter-protesters.

At the beginning of the afternoon on Wednesday May 1, professors came to read to the press a letter addressed to the president of the university, guilty according to them of not protecting the students. One of them testifies to the incidents of the night. “What I saw was brutal. It is only due to divine grace that there were no deaths”we hear.

Violence by pro-Israeli counter-protesters

A group of pro-Israel demonstrators attempted to disrupt this press conference, the only moment of tension on a quiet day on the UCLA campus, with a heavy police presence, members of law enforcement observing the surroundings from the roof of buildings. A calm very different from the images broadcast on social networks all night.

Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, pro-Israeli demonstrators, dressed in black and masked, arrived on campus. They fired fireworks at the encampment, shook barriers, beat students and used pepper spray. For Taï, one of the students in the camp, with a keffiyeh on her shoulders, the attack by those she calls “the Zionists” was not a surprise after six days of occupation.

“Some of them prevent us from sleeping, from talking. They play loud sounds of babies crying all night long. We expected that.”

Taï, a UCLA student

at franceinfo

Violence denounced from all sides

Stella came in the morning to see if the camp was still there. She says that on the way, a student called her a “Nazi” when she saw her Star of David around her neck. But even though she would like the encampment to disappear and life to return to normal on campus, she does not support what she saw on television. “Violence, in any form, is not justified against anyone, whether I agree with a group or not. Last night’s violence does not represent the Jewish community.”she assures.

Classes were canceled on Wednesday. Ethan, an economics student, revised his exam for nothing. For him, what happened at UCLA is different from clashes at other universities, when police evacuated camps. This time, it was a group of counter-protesters who took action. “I imagine that they wanted to take care of destroying the camp themselves. But the lack of police presence surprised me”he says.

The university management announced its intention to dismantle the camp quickly. At the end of the afternoon, the students were preparing for a police intervention.