Two full days have passed since UCI community members launched a Gaza Solidarity Encampment in protest against the university’s investments in companies financially supporting Israel.
The encampment zone, located at the Physical Sciences Quad, has maintained its size after expanding to 30 tents yesterday, April 30. Besides police officers ticketing cars parked in parking lots by the camp, law enforcement presence has lessened since the first day of the encampment. However, helicopters have been flying around campus throughout the day.
Photo by Mohammad Samhouri / Staff
A doctor from Gaza is set to come to the encampment sometime this week, and has contacted organizers about Palestinian’s response, specifically Palestinian children, to their activism. In an interview with New University, a Palestinian protester who requested anonymity emotionally explained how much the response means to them.
“It’s been really heartwarming that this has reached them. It honestly made me cry when I heard that because the doctor told us, he came back from Gaza, and he said that the children’s only request was to tell us not to forget them,” they said.
“[The children have] done so much to stand their ground and protect our land. They don’t even ask for help anymore because they are afraid of our help and people going against them as they live in genocide. Just hearing the doctor say that they want us to not forget them…”
On social media, support from native Palestinians from Gaza to the student protestors has been made. Yesterday, Bisan Owda, a Palestinian journalist, known as @wizard_bisan1 on Instagram, reposted a video of UCIPD denying student protesters the opportunity to move water into their encampment to her Instagram story.
“Preventing students from water and bathrooms, shame on the US!” Owda said in the post.
The Palestinian protester expressed how great it is to see the support and that it’s reaching those in Gaza.
“[Those in Gaza] don’t even get this much food, this much support. Like we’re only sleeping in the tents. That’s basically the only thing that is representing them. We’re getting so much food, so much medical supplies, so much support. But like, compared to [those in Gaza], they have to live in the dirt and live in the tents.”
Early in the afternoon, pro-Israel protesters gathered at the Anteater Plaza. No interactions were made with the encampment protesters as they remained at the Plaza — singing songs and reciting chants. One protester was spotted holding a flag that was split diagonally to show both the American and Israeli flags.
Photo by Mohammad Samhouri / Staff
Another counter-protester attempted to get into the encampment last night, according to the protester. After a close encounter with a student protestor, police were called to escort the counter-protester away.
A number of UCI professors have also been in attendance in the encampment protests and some have canceled their classes for students to attend and give their attention to the encampment. Professor Christopher Harris, an assistant professor in the global and international studies department, canceled his 5:00 p.m. class yesterday and his 2:00 p.m. class today, May 1, for his students and himself to show support.
“It makes sense for students and faculty alike to want an institution that we’re affiliated with to disavow what’s been going on and to support Palestine,” Harris said. “[It is] also [important] to raise further awareness of all the ways institutions, not just the universities, are complicit in the ongoing genocide.”
Yesterday evening, University of California President Michael V. Drake released a statement regarding the campus protests and encampments. His statement mentioned UCLA’s response to their protestor’s encampment, deeming the encampment unlawful.
“The University of California must be as flexible as it can involving matters of free expression, including expression of viewpoints that some find deeply offensive. But when that expression blocks the ability of students to learn or to express their own viewpoints, when it meaningfully disrupts the functioning of the University, or when it threatens the safety of students, or anyone else, we must act,” the statement reads.
That same night, protests at UCLA escalated when counter-protesters shot fireworks and tear gas into the encampment. Wearing masks, they also tore down barricades and struck protesters with sticks and bats. When asked about the events that unfolded at UCLA, the UCI protester expressed that they found it horrible and, despite what occurred, they emphasized that both UCI and UCLA protesters are not afraid and will remain grounded in their cause.
As of today, organizers have asked supporters to halt donations of non-perishable foods, blankets and medical supplies on Instagram as supplies are at full capacity. Now, they’re asking for physical support and for individuals to show up at the encampment.
“We do not want to be wasteful because, especially with the situation going on in Gaza, which we are in support of. They already do not have enough materials and we don’t want to be wasting them and throwing them away,” the protester said.“We can really slow down a little bit on the support. We love it, we absolutely appreciate it. But just showing up is the best support right now that we can get.”
Skylar Paxton is an Opinion Staff Writer. She can be contacted at paxtons@uci.edu.
