Campus clashes continue to escalate as they reach UCLA

Tensions are rising both domestically and overseas as the conflict between Israel and Hamas stretches into its seventh month.

In reality, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine stretches back much further, but the most recent discord was sparked in early October of 2023, when Hamas — a militant group dedicated to the liberation of Palestine from Zionist forces — launched an attack on Israel.

That attack, which cost 1,139 lives, prompted a prolonged campaign of violence between the longtime adversaries, and it claims new victims every day. As friction continues to dominate the relationship between Palestine and Israel, the Gaza strip and its inhabitants are paying the toll. People are starving, dying in bombardments, and pleading for help, and opinions across the globe are split.

Some people are in ardent support of Israel, others see them as the overpowered aggressors, but everyone agrees that the unceasing loss of lives is a tragedy. In response to the continued hostilities, and particular the blockage of vital aid to those in Gaza, college students across the United States are speaking up. They’re taking advantage of their free speech to protest the conflict, but it’s leading to strife state-side as well.

As one portion of students stand up to defend Gaza and their peers do the same for Israel, tension is on the rise across U.S. campuses. Those tensions are leading to an often excessive reaction from university leaders and law enforcement, resulting in the escalation of several situations on college campuses like the University of California in Los Angeles.

What’s going on at UCLA?

UCLA is one of many campuses split in twixt in the wake of the ongoing Israel–Hamas war. A number of the university’s peers, from Columbia in New York City to the University of Texas at Austin, have likewise seen rampant protests, and just like UCLA, they’ve seen excessive response from law enforcement.

Tensions at UCLA boiled over as April transitioned into May, but no arrests resulted in the police response to the university. Police did fire non-lethal ammunition into the gathered crowd, however, resulting in several injuries among students. Authorities donned riot gear to break up unarmed protesters on April 30, sparking concern, and their response was blasted as uneven following a lackluster reaction just a day before.

On April 29, police had a starkly different response after counter-demonstrators launched an attack on the pro-Palestinian encampment, dismantling barriers, throwing objects, and flooding the area with pepper spray. On the evening of the clash between counter-demonstrators and pro-Palestinian protestors, police didn’t step in for hours. As a result, numerous protestors suffered injuries and a critical outcry was prompted.

Only a few injuries were reported following the April 30 standoff between well-equipped police and gathered protestors, but the looming threat of violence was present none-the-less. Things escalated at several points, when police fired non-lethal rounds and attempted to break apart protesters, but the gathered students stood firm.

This follows several aggressive altercations between police and protestors at other universities, some of which have led to widespread arrests. The same threat looms over UCLA as its protestors continue to make their voices heard, and police veer between lack of action and excessive response.