One person was arrested at UCLA on Monday night on suspicion of failure to disperse after the university Police Department ordered about 40 protesters to leave Dickson Court North, where they had set up a “Gaza Solidarity Sukkah” and a handful of tents, authorities said.
Student protesters erected the sukkah Monday morning to observe the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and demand that the university divest from companies that do business with Israel and call for an end to the war in Palestine. By Monday afternoon, students had also set up a small number of tents.
At 3:20 p.m., UCPD issued a statement saying students were gathering in an area not designated for public expression, using unauthorized structures and amplified sound, all of which violates protest policies enacted in September in response. to the massive pro-Palestinian protests. that shook the campus in April.
According to a report from the Daily Bruin, a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters arrived at Dickson Court North around 8:00 p.m., and pro-Palestinian protesters began dismantling their tents around 8:20 p.m.
The department issued a dispersal order about 10 minutes later, after which most protesters left the area, according to UCPD. The sukkah was then removed by hired security guards, according to the Bruin.
Sukkot is a week-long Jewish holiday that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the biblical story of the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years after escaping slavery in Egypt. During this time, Jews eat, live, and pray in open-air structures known as sukkahs to remember the fragile structures their ancestors lived in after fleeing Egypt.
Organizers of the student protests said they were using the holiday to draw attention to the displacement and death inflicted on Palestinians and Lebanese by Israel.
“I refuse to observe Sukkot as normal when university investments continue to fund the genocide of Palestinians,” protest organizer Leah Jacobson said in a statement. “The principle of pikuach nefesh, or saving a soul, requires that we set aside other laws to preserve human life. “I am here aligning my Jewish practice with my support for Palestinian liberation.”
Protesters are demanding that the university divest from weapons and surveillance systems manufacturers that do business with Israel, such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.
The UC system has repeatedly opposed calls for divestment, claiming that they infringe on the academic freedom of the university community. The UC system also states that tuition and fees are the primary sources of funding for the University's primary operations and that none of these funds are used for investment purposes.
