Blog

Oct 14, 2024

UCLA students ask for helmets, gas masks and knee pads for Gaza protest – but no bagels

Students for Justice in Palestine release a list of supplies they need which must be ‘boycott compliant’ and not made by Israeli companies Pro-Palestine protesters embedded at the University of

Students for Justice in Palestine release a list of supplies they need which must be ‘boycott compliant’ and not made by Israeli companies

Pro-Palestine protesters embedded at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have appealed for helmets, goggles and zip ties – but no bagels or coffee – amid a tense standoff with police.

Their encampment came under attack on Tuesday night, with “acts of horrific violence” reported by the university.

In the wake of the scenes, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who want the university to cut financial ties with Israel, released a list of supplies needed, some labelled “urgent” and all required to be “BDS compliant” – BDS, or Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, is a movement shunning Israeli companies.

Headlamps, goggles, gas masks, skater helmets, shields, wood for barriers, knee pads and utility gloves “without reinforced knuckles, especially for small hands” were requested, alongside vegan and gluten-free food.

But supporters were urged not to send packaged food, bagels, coffee, bananas and nuts. The reasons were not immediately clear – many were quick to point out bagels are of Jewish origin, although one supporter said it was because protesters had been inundated with them already.

“Before you freaks lose your mind over the ‘no bagels’ on the request list,” tweeted Emily Wilder, a human rights activist fired from Associated Press for pro-Palestine tweets, “I was there today, there are many Jewish participants, there are dozens of bags of donated bagels. They don’t need any more bagels.”

Violence erupted on Tuesday when students at the UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment in Dickson Plaza on Westwood Campus, Los Angeles, came under attack by a masked, ostensibly pro-Israel, group.

Black-clad demonstrators threw missiles and began dismantling barriers, with students rushing to defend their makeshift camp.

Pro-Palestine protesters and reporters were attacked, with the Daily Bruin student newspaper saying four of its journalists had been sprayed with an “irritant”.

SJP described the mob as “zionist aggressors” and said what they experienced during two hours of fighting was a “microcosm of the genocide in Gaza”.

“The university would rather see us dead than divest,” it added, before accusing the police of standing by and security of laughing as its members were beaten.

The office of Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, called the “limited and delayed” police response “unacceptable”.

Mr Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted: “The law is clear. The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism or lawlessness.” Those responsible “must be held accountable”, he added.

After two hours police moved in and by daybreak on Wednesday counter-protesters had left. It’s unclear if any were arrested.

The encampment in front of Royce Hall was declared “illegal” by the university in the hours before the clash but hundreds of protesters remained there on Thursday, with supporters surrounding them locking arms and police poised to move in.

Empty buses were ready to take supporters away, but protesters seemed determined to stay, clad in body armour and clutching plywood shields. Some were overheard discussing the best ways to withstand pepper spray.