Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Pro-Palestine protests continued to roil the UCLA and USC campuses Monday, with security stepped up at both campuses following a weekend that saw violence among activists in Westwood and vandalism at USC.
Hundreds of faculty and staff members took part in an early afternoon rally and march at UCLA Monday. At the front of the march, two people held a banner reading "UCLA faculty and staff stand with our students," and participants chanted "Free, free, free Palestine" as the moved through campus.
At USC, a pro-Palestinian activist vandalized the university's famed Tommy Trojan statue over the weekend, spray-painting "Say no to genocide" on the base of the fixture. The USC campus remained under restricted access Monday, with only a pair of gates opened primarily for students and staff only.
Just outside the USC campus Monday morning, community activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, held a news conference calling on USC President Carol Folt to engage in an emergency campus dialogue with students over the Middle East conflict and students' demands.
"The last week or so, there's been chaos, there's been turmoil, there's been violence, there's been destruction," Hutchinson said.
He acknowledged that Folt issued a statement late last week responding to the protests, but he said she has not been "proactive" in working with students.
He said an "emergency campus dialogue" is needed.
"You don't want to have to call the LAPD in every time. The issue is not going to go away. You've got a lot of passion, you've got a lot of anger," he said.
Folt sent a message to the campus community Friday saying the university had no choice but to call police during a mass protest last Wednesday. Los Angeles Police Department officers ultimately arrested 93 people who refused to leave the campus' Alumni Park.
"This week, Alumni Park became unsafe," Folt said in her message. "No one wants to have people arrested on their campus. Ever. But, when long- standing safety policies are flagrantly violated, buildings vandalized, (Department of Public Safety) directives repeatedly ignored, threatening language shouted, people assaulted, and access to critical academic buildings blocked, we must act immediately to protect our community.
"USC has long-standing protocols that allow for peaceful protesting, and we have been working successfully with our community to ensure these rules have been followed at gatherings, protests, and vigils taking place all year. USC also has firm rules regarding harassment and bullying that we will uphold."
USC was originally the focal point of Palestinian protests following its decision to cancel a commencement speech by pro-Palestine class valedictorian Asna Tabassum over complaints about online posts that critics called antisemitic.
The university eventually opted to cancel its May 10 main stage commencement altogether, but vowed to move forward with the usual array of smaller satellite graduation ceremonies for the school's individual colleges.
Some of those ceremonies, however, could also be impacted by the debate over the Israel-Hamas war. Two dignitaries who had been scheduled to speak during a pair of commencement activities announced Sunday they were withdrawing from the events.
Author C Pam Zhang was scheduled to speak at a doctoral ceremony on May 8. Author Safiya U. Noble was set to speak during a May 10 masters ceremony.
"To speak at USC in this moment would betray not only our own values, but USC's too," the pair wrote in a letter to university administrators on Sunday. "We are withdrawing as commencement speakers. We cannot overlook the link between recent developments and the ongoing genocide in Palestine."
The letter added, "Asna's removal, the administration's refusal to engage in dialogue with student protesters, and the decision to invite LAPD forces onto campus, represent a violent and targeted refusal to allow true diversity of expression to flourish on campus. The right to free speech and peaceful protest are not only fundamental to democracy, but a particular, proud feature of American universities."
Across town at UCLA, a large pro-Palestine encampment emerged last Thursday, and things turned violent over the weekend when pro-Israel activists held a rally of their own. A barrier that was erected in an effort to separate the dueling groups was breached, leading to shoving matches and some fights.
The Israeli American Council, along with several other Jewish organizations, had sponsored a late-morning rally Sunday to show support for Jewish students after days of often intense pro-Palestinian protests at campuses across the United States, including at crosstown USC.
Members of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice also held a demonstration to support students' right to protest, in response to a request from pro-Palestine protesters at the campus.
Mary Osako, vice chancellor of UCLA Strategic Communications, issued a statement Sunday saying, "UCLA has a long history of being a place of peaceful protest, and we are heartbroken to report that today, some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators on Royce Quad.
"We have since instituted additional security measures and increased the numbers of our safety team members on site.
"As an institution of higher education, we stand firmly for the idea that even when we disagree, we must still engage respectfully and recognize one another's humanity. We are dismayed that certain individuals instead chose to jeopardize the physical safety of the community," the statement said.
According to the Daily Bruin, members of both groups were faced off on the lawn between Haines Hall and Kaplan Hall Sunday morning.
"Fights have broken out between protesters supporting Israel and those supporting Palestine in Dickson Plaza," the newspaper reported at 10:57 a.m.
Among the speakers at the pro-Israel rally was Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli American Council.
"We will take back our campuses, from Columbia to UCLA and everywhere in between," he told the crowd.
No arrests were reported.
"My team and I are closely tracking the protests at UCLA today, and are in close communication with UCLA leadership and City officials to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone on campus," City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky posted on social media.
Later Sunday afternoon, a phalanx of campus police entered the area to keep the groups apart. The Daily Bruin reported that the pro-Israel group had largely dispersed.
The pro-Palestine protesters had expanded their campus encampment between Saturday and Sunday to stretch from the top of the Janss Steps to the east end of Royce Hall.
The growing number of pro-Palestine protesters was met with an equally fervent group of counter-protesters who played loud music near the encampment and shouted chants about Palestine preceded by an obscenity, according to the Daily Bruin.
One counter-protester stomped on a Palestinian flag at the encampment while another ripped posters off the exterior of the encampment, the Daily Bruin reported.
Organizers of UCLA's Palestine Solidarity Encampment, similar to their counterparts at USC, issued a list of demands calling for divestment of all University of California and UCLA Foundation funds from companies tied to Israel, along with a demand that the university call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and an academic boycott by UC against Israeli universities, including a suspension of study-abroad programs.
It was unclear whether all of the participants were UCLA students.
The University of California issued a statement Friday noting that the university has "consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel. While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.
"UC tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University's core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes," the statement continued.
Protest encampments also emerged Monday at UC Irvine and UC Riverside.