Members of the UCI community joined encampment protests seen at universities across North America, demanding UCI leadership divest from companies and institutions supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestine and calling for Palestinian liberation by launching their own encampment on campus on April 29.
Approximately 70 individuals set up camp at the Physical Science Quad as a form of protest. Local and student organizations such as UCI Divest, the Orange County chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement organization (PYM LA-OC-IE), Rank and File Irvine and Students for Justice in Palestine at UCI (SJP at UCI) announced the encampment and defined demands in an Instagram post early on April 29.
The encampment started early in the morning as protesters set up several tents, canopies, barricades, posters and supply tables as well as places to eat, rest and pray. Throughout the day, protesters organized rallies, prayers, art builds, speaker sessions, and more within and around the encampment barriers.
Photo by Mohammad Samhouri / Staff
Pop-up canopies, tents, barriers, and Palestinian flags filled the Physical Sciences Quad by mid-day on April 29.
At around 7:00 a.m. UCI administration barricaded protesters and the UCI Police Department (UCIPD) appeared on scene, according to videos posted by UCI Divest on Instagram. In an interview with New University, John, who requested to omit their last name, a fifth-year student and co-founder of UCI Divest, claimed that UCIPD made threats of arrest and blocked protesters from bringing supplies into the encampments.
“Police have threatened to arrest people coming from the bathrooms, that if they go back to the bathrooms they will be arrested,” John said. “People bringing in water, food, supply — police have tried to deny them access saying that they are not allowed to bring food in. We have been standing firm in our demands and ensuring that we won’t back down until we get our demands.”
Law enforcement officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) as well as the Irvine, Costa Mesa, Newport and Westminster Police Departments were seen at the protests. Mayor Farrah Khan of Irvine was present at the encampment and issued a statement on her social media affirming the right to peaceful assembly, after which Irvine PD was seen to have vacated campus.
“I am asking our law enforcement to stand down,” Khan said in an Instagram post. “I will not tolerate any violations to our students’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest.”
Photo by Mohammad Samhouri / Staff
OC Sheriff’s Deputies seen donning vests and helmets in Lot 12B.
Irvine residents joined the protest, holding Palestinian flags and joining chants. An Irvine resident, who requested anonymity, explained their motivations for joining the protest in an interview with New University.
“I’m thinking how can we help, how can we show that we care and that we’re trying our best to help them out. I’m trying to advocate for my neighbor, my children, and so on,” they said.
Physical and violent altercations have not occurred at the UCI encampment, however the resident expressed fears of violence from police after attending protests at UCLA, where disturbances among protesters occurred as reported by CBS News.
“Yesterday I went up to UCLA and it was so, so tense there. At some points I was a little bit scared ‘cause some of them [the police] were too violent and abusive,” they said.
In the afternoon, an OCSD bus and numerous police vehicles were spotted at Lot 12B, located near the protest encampment, with multiple OCSD deputies being spotted in riot gear. At approximately 3:00 p.m. the bus and law enforcement officials were no longer parked in the lot. New University also captured two drones of unknown origin flying above the encampment zone, flying back and forth between the lot and the encampment.
Photo by Mohammad Samhouri / Staff
A drone spotted flying between Lot 12B and the encampment location at the Physical Sciences Quad.
The encampment protest at UCI follows a series of pro-Palestine protests occurring at universities all over the U.S. and Canada. At UCI, UCI Divest is a part of a larger coalition, UC Divest, that has organized multiple rallies and encampments at UC campuses for the UC Regents to disclose investment information, divest and reinvest into students and workers’ welfare.
In response to demands for divestment, the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) affirmed the right to free speech in a statement released on April 26, a few days before the encampment was announced. However the statement read that “a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.”
The statement also explained that UC tuition and fees are not used for investment purposes. Investments made by the university, as written in the statement, provides benefits for retired employees and supports the university’s “education, research and public service mission.”
UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman released a campus-wide message in the evening to all students confirming the right to assembly, while also stating that the encampment protests are in violation of campus policy.
“We have reached out to the students in the existing illegal encampment and have made it clear to them that if they believe they need an ‘encampment’ space on campus to peacefully express their views, then we will work with them to find a space that is appropriate and non-disruptive,” Gillman wrote in the statement. “We hope that our students and other affiliates do not insist on staying in a space that violates the law, violates our policies, and disrupts our mission.”
Photo by Mohammad Samhouri / Staff
Posters with pro-Palestinian and anti-imperialist slogans lined the barriers of the encampment.
A protester inside the encampment explained to New University that one of their demands is for UC and UCI to divest from companies like BlackRock, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other entities.
“This also includes ending the UCI countering extremism funding, ending partnerships with the Henry Samueli School of Engineering with the Israeli initiative and things like that,” they said.
“In terms of organizations like the ADL, they espouse some harmful rhetorics, such as conflating anti-semitism with anti-Zionism. That is not something that is true, or is it something that we endorse. Those are just some of the ties into the company,” they continued, referencing an event featuring the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Gillman.
Protesters at other universities have been detained or faced disciplinary action as protests continue. At Northeastern University, NBC News reported that over 100 people alone were arrested after anti-semitic slurs were reportedly heard. In addition to encampments, rallies have also seen arrests and tensions with police officers. At a rally at the University of Texas at Austin, 57 people were arrested after police officers showed up in riot gear, according to the Texas Tribune.
A Palestinian student and encampment protester, who requested to remain anonymous, emphasized their family and community who were displaced from their homes as motivation for protesting in an interview with New University. When asked about fears of police or disciplinary action, they expressed that they are not afraid of authorities at all.
“I do not have any fears of that because I know that what I am fighting for is for the right thing against the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza which has caused 30,000 people plus to die in the hands of the Israeli government,” they said. “So I know that if I do get arrested or academic disciplinary, I am fine with that because I know that I didn’t do anything.”
Skylar Paxton is an Opinion Staff Writer. She can be reached at paxtons@uci.edu.
Edited by Beatrice Lee and Mohammad Samhouri
