Fights break out between pro-Israel, pro-Palestine protesters at UCLA

Demonstrators occupying a pro-Palestinian encampment clashed with pro-Israel counter-demonstrators on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Sunday, as university demonstrations continued across the country.

Fighting broke out between isolated members of the two groups before a counter-protest by the Israeli American Council. The Daily Bruin reported. On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in the center of UCLA’s campus to support both sides of the protest.

Early in the morning, a small group of counter-demonstrators tried to break through a fence the university had set up to separate the two groups of protesters, the Bruin reported. Later, pro-Palestinian protesters broke through the same fence and a small skirmish broke out.

UCLA Vice Chancellor and Public Affairs Mary Osako condemned the clash.

“This morning, a group of protesters broke through a barrier the university had set up to separate two groups of protesters on campus, resulting in a physical altercation,” Osako said in a statement. Ta. “UCLA has a long history of being a place for peaceful protest, and we are saddened by this act of violence.”

The Bruin reported Sunday’s protests on both sides remained largely peaceful. No arrests were reported as a result of the skirmish.

Sunday’s protests continued a nationwide movement of college students occupying public spaces on campus to protest the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war and to call on universities to divest from Israeli interests.

Hundreds of students have been arrested across the country, putting them in the political spotlight. At Columbia University, where protests first began last week, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and several members of Congress from both sides of the aisle participated.

The protests have not changed the policies of the Biden administration, which has largely condemned the demonstrations as anti-Semitic. Republican leaders, including Mr. Johnson, have called on Mr. Biden to deploy the National Guard to quell the movement, but Mr. Biden has refused.