Protests over Israel’s war in Gaza lead to violence at UCLA

A boycott of divestments against fossil fuel companies in South Africa and why it’s happening at universities — a challenge for students and academics

Protesters at universities are targeting companies that make military equipment. Cornell University protesters are calling for divestments from companies including Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

During the 1970s and 1980s, students at Columbia and other universities successfully pressed administrators to sell off investments in companies doing business with South Africa over the country’s apartheid policies.

Students at Syracuse University succeeded in persuading the school’s board of trustees to stop investing in firms that are linked to fossil fuels.

“Divestment itself doesn’t really influence the companies or the industries being targeted directly,” said Prof. Todd Ely from the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. It’s more of the stigma that’s drawing attention to the issue.

“While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses” the university said last week.

Private funds designed to prevent people from cashing out for a number of years have been included in the multi billion dollar chests of the nation’s top universities.

David Swensen, who was the current chief investment officer at Yale, became an well known figure in finance due to his immense growth of the university’s funds.

Endowments “are intended to kind of preserve and grow the resources available to colleges and universities. Prof. Ely says the number one use of the funds is for student financial aid. It’s a very complex situation where calls to change the way these funds are invested by students end up in a way that goes back to support them, and that’s sort of what’s happening here.

Law Enforcement and Students Gathered in a Pro-Palestinian Encampment on the University of Arizona Campus: A Collision Emerges

“Around 2:00 a.m. law enforcement officers in gas masks and riot gear stormed a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Arizona campus,” reports Arizona Public Media, which adds that hundreds of protest supporters were in the area and that the move came after a 10:30 p.m. deadline for protesters to leave.

Protesters fought with the counterprotesters, which witnesses say ranged from 100 to over 200. People set off fireworks — and journalists and protest organizers say pepper spray or other irritants were used — before police were able to get the situation under control.

Hours before the confrontation, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block issued a statement saying his administration had “taken several immediate actions,” including significantly boosting security by “adding greater numbers of law enforcement officers, safety personnel and student affairs mitigators.”

There were fires, tear gas and fights at around 10:50 pm Tuesday. It added that the school issued a statement at 12:40 a.m. saying it had called police. Police arrived slightly after 1 a.m., the paper said.

There was a delay, as the groups were separated by the police after they reached the campus around 3 a.m. according to ABC 7.

Pro-Palestinian tent camps have been popping up on college campuses around the country — and now, so are reports that universities are taking action against them.

Police moved against a pro-Palestinian encampment in Madison shortly after 7 a.m. local time Wednesday morning, resulting in at least 12 arrests and several injuries.

A student showed reporters a gash he said was caused by being stuck by a police shield. Campus police say four officers were hurt, including a state trooper who was hit in the head by a protester’s skateboard.

“But two hours later, protesters began setting up a new encampment with at least 15 tents. Leaders of the demonstration held trainings on how to resist further arrests and made plans for a march and rally for Wednesday afternoon,” WPR reports.

On the last day of classes for most students, campus, city and state police officers converged on an encampment — an operation that student newspaper The Tulane Hullabaloo says began before dawn on Wednesday.

“About 300 people were arrested,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said. That figure includes people who were on the Columbia University campus, as well as others arrested at City College — an institution in the City University of New York system that was a destination for a crowd of demonstrators who marched from Columbia University.

As the evening wore on, members of the group “began wrestling with protesters inside and [private campus] security hired by UCLA,” according to the Daily Bruin.

The battle broke out days after the Israeli-American Council put on a demonstration outside of the camp. Despite heightened tensions, that large rally on April 28 ended without major clashes.

The protesters were forcibly removed from Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday night. The New York Police Department mounted a large operation to remove the protesters, using an armored vehicle and a mechanized drawbridge to convey officers into the building.

He said his administration thinks that the protests are led by outsiders who are not part of the college community. When asked to specify how many of the arrested demonstrators were unaffiliated with the university, Adams said the police are still sorting through records to determine that.