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| pro-Palestinian demonstrators |
Clashes broke out on Sunday between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), reports CNN. Protesters broke through a security barrier intended to separate the two groups, coming face to face, shouting and shoving each other. The incident involved pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in support of an encampment protesting Israel's military campaign in Gaza, and a group of counter-protesters draped in Israeli flags who had set up a video screen and speakers. A Jewish student was notably injured in the head by a pro-Palestinian demonstrator.
Both rallies were authorized by the university, which hired a private security company to separate the two camps. Police in riot gear stood at a distance from the crowd, according to CNN, but university officials said police would only intervene if they believed students were in danger. Mary Osako, vice-chancellor of strategic communications at the university, confirmed in a statement that the demonstrators had "forced" a barrier between the groups and that there had been "physical altercations" between the protesters. “UCLA has a long history of peaceful protests, and we are saddened by the violence that has erupted,” the statement said.
The UCLA campus has become an epicenter of the wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping American universities. Los Angeles police arrested 93 protesters who refused to dismantle an encampment set up on campus. Students are demanding that the university completely divest from Israel and the companies supporting its operations in Gaza, something UCLA denies.
The incident is the latest in a series of anti-Israel protests that have swept college campuses across the United States. Last week, at least 45 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Yale University after riot police stormed the campus during a demonstration. Two days earlier, a Jewish student journalist at Yale was stabbed in the eye with a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.
Earlier, more than 100 people were arrested by the New York Police Department for unlawful trespassing as law enforcement entered Columbia University to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest that had begun the day before.
