UCI protesters maintained the encampment zone as groups continued to demand that UCI divest from companies such as Blackrock and Boeing, which support Israel. The encampment, also known as a Palestine Solidarity Encampment, has been on campus since April 29.
May 1 marked International Workers Day, also known as May Day, which celebrates laborers and working classes. In recognition of workers and students at UCI and beyond, UCI Divest and the SoCal and UCI chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) issued a statement reiterating demands. The groups demonstrated solidarity with the international working class in a post to Instagram.
“We unite the struggles for Palestinian liberation and the struggles of the international working class,” the post read. “The UC Intifada’s Popular University for Palestine recognizes it is the students and workers, not the administration, who truly keep this campus running.”
Today, volunteers and leaders with the Western Service Workers Association (WSWA), an association of low-income working people that provides a variety of resources to communities, came to the encampment to show solidarity with protesters and recruit volunteers for their organizing efforts.
“We know that the same people who are killing people in Palestine, the same people, institutions, policies, are killing people here in Orange County—as well as some of the lowest paid workers. So we have a lot in solidarity, we have a lot in common, and we have a common cause to fight for change,” Hannah Cano, a WSWA representative, told New University.
An encampment protester, who requested anonymity, told New University that a non-UCI-affiliated protester working as a police liaison for the encampment received a citation from police. The warning read that the liaison may be arrested and face a misdemeanor charge if they are in the encampment zone within seven days of the citation being issued.
Protesters additionally brought wooden pallets to the encampment, after which UCI administration and police told them not to bring any large camping supplies into the encampment, according to the protesters.
Helicopters continued to be seen above the encampment zone throughout the day.
This morning, President Biden delivered a live address from the White House regarding pro-Palestine protests at universities across the country. Biden defended the right to peacefully protest but also said that dissent “must never lead to disorder.”
Following Biden’s address, the House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The bill, focused on educational institutions, may make it easier for students to pursue legal action for discrimination based on the bill’s definition of antisemitism. In the context of pro-Palestine protests, the bill would identify much of the rhetoric heard by protesters across universities as antisemitism.
“When you hear ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ that is calling for the eradication of Jews and the state of Israel,” Representative Mike Lawyler, a sponsor of the bill, told CBS News.
When asked about the passing of the Antisemitism Awareness Bill, the encampment protester described the difference between antisemitism and anti-Israel, highlighting support from the Jewish community.
“We have a lot of Jewish people that support us, too. They don’t want a genocide in their name, because anybody who sees that a genocide is happening does not want the justification of it to be because of them,” they said. “You can see a lot of Jewish Voice for Peace, a lot of Jewish students—they support these encampments,” referencing the Jewish advocacy and anti-Zionism group Jewish Voice for Peace.
Last night, on May 1, Associated Graduate Students (AGS) president Zoë Miller-Vedam and Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI) president Jun Jang wrote a memo to the UCI administration regarding the police presence at UCLA’s encampment and what that means for UCI protesters.
“We write to you today to urge the university not to follow in the footsteps of UCLA, and instead commit to facilitating free speech on our campus in a safe and conducive manner that does not rely on hyper-policing peacefully protesting students,” the memo read.
On the UCLA campus, over 200 people were arrested on May 1 after police raided the encampment starting at around 3 a.m., according to live reporting from UCLA Radio. Tear gas, rubber pellets and flashbangs were directed at protesters, with many enduring injuries.
In regrd to the raid at UCLA, the encampment protester noted the response and role of police.
“When the [counter-protester] attacks were happening, LAPD took four hours to respond to it. But when it took to breaking down the encampment, they responded right away, and they were there, and they took it down. And I just think that is very shameful,” they said.
Skylar Paxton is an Opinion Staff Writer. She can be reached at paxtons@uci.edu.
Edited by Beatrice Lee and Jaheem Conley