What were Students Saying About the Encampment?
"Today marks Day 207 of Israel's genocide on Gaza. Zionist forces have relentlessly attacked Gaza for 207 days on end, without pause or interruption, to fulfill the promise Israel made to the world: that it would raze Gaza to the ground, that it would slaughter Palestinians like "human animals," that it would inflict a second Nakba... Our struggle for Palestinian liberation continues as we now join student encampments across the world demanding that our universities divest billions of dollars from weapons manufacturers and companies that enable and profit from Israel's ongoing genocide, apartheid, and occupation of Palestine. There is no "time, place or manner" while Israel continues to escalate its genocidal assault on the 1.4 million Palestinians packed into Rafah and its surrounding makeshift tent cities. Now, more than ever before, we must rise together in solidarity to demand an end to this U.S.-backed genocide, and UCSD's complicity in human rights abuses and war crimes against the Palestinian people." – Students for Justice in Palestine at UC San Diego | "I think for a lot of students, it was their first time experimenting with what critical people power was like. And so for a lot of folks, I think there was excitement; there was energy that was really healthy in many ways." – Husayn | "I feel like both my identities, being queer and being Jewish, are being weaponized right now to justify what is going on in Palestine. And i want to make it very clear that Judaism is inextricably linked with freedom from oppression. It's not in spite of my Judaism that i believe in a free Palestine, but rather because of it." – Skylar | "We firmly support the people of Palestine who face a calculated genocide executed by the Israeli Occupation Forces... We denounce America’s billions of tax dollars that fund this ongoing genocide through weapons packages labeled as “aid. We denounce UC San Diego’s investment in weapons manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. There must be a UC where our tuition, learning, and research ensures collective, international liberation." – UC San Diego Food Cooperative, General Store Cooperative, KSDT Radio, Che Cafe Collective, and Groundworks Books Collective | “I was immensely proud of the amount of work that people were putting into this. I think it’s very apparent when someone actually has a passion and actually cares about something; they put that amount of energy into it, and they put themselves into the effort. Watching students do this for the first time, I was very proud of how they were handling it.” – Husayn | "What can we do to make sure people don’t forget, so all of this doesn’t get washed to the side? … I hope that people find a way to keep fighting.” – Jordan | "It's so absurd ow quickly everything went back to normal... they really did a good job of gaslighting us into thinking it didn't happen." – Bartholomew | "I’ve never seen a protest so quiet; it was really just more of like … straight up a community. In like zombie movies, when they run into a shelter or something, and it’s just a bunch of tents, and it’s a community. … That’s deadass what it felt like. Nothing was violent.” – Mike | "Seeing all of the other campus protests all over the country inspired me to come when UCSD had one." – Pikachu | "SJP and JVP remain firm in our stance that there can be no business as usual in the midst of a genocide." – Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace at UC San Diego
What were Faculty Saying About the Encampment?
"The students are very strongly motivated to try to do something after they have watched the 7- month-long Israeli onslaught of Gaza, where every plane and helicopter and every bomb and shell are made in the US and often paid for by US taxpayers. The students in the encampment were Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, White, Black, Asian, Latinx, queer and straight. This movement of students, which is now a worldwide movement, is demanding that universities divest from their financial interests and academic ties to the State of Israel, and the movement is more broadly bringing political pressure in the US to change policy. We agree with what Professor Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University said – “This is the conscience of a nation, speaking through your kids”, and he linked the current encampments with similar student movements against the Vietnam War and Apartheid in South Africa. We recognize the courage and commitment of the students who camped out. We wish our administrators would have some empathy for what it is like to be in their shoes: sleeping in an encampment, worrying about classes, midterms, suspension, and – given the happenings at UCLA – the possibility of attack and physical harm. " – Testimony of 246 UCSD Faculty | "As for the camp itself, we saw a different space than the one described. It was safe, secure, and joyous. The students had areas for food and prayer. The grounds were cleaned. The nights were tranquil and reflective. Movement along Library Walk flowed. When the walkway was momentarily blocked, it was for song or dance. There were no checkpoints other than watchful administrative personnel." – Members of the UC San Diego Writing Community | "Protest is essential to our democracy and a basic human right and retaliation against students who protest is antithetical to our university’s highest ideals of learning and scholarship. The militarized response has only chilled free speech, escalated tensions, reduced safety on campus, and destroyed the trust needed for negotiations and shared governance." – San Diego Faculty Association | "The weapons police bring onto campuses inevitably lead to escalation and grievous injury, or worse, and have no place at educational institutions. Moreover, police presence does not make students feel safer--on the contrary, the arrival of police heightens community tensions, worsens relations among community members, and is a chilling act of repression and censorship. The police presence on campus advertises to the world, including parents and prospective students, that UCSD responds to conscientious, peaceful student dissent with clubs rather than dialogue. The Ethnic Studies department supports the demands outlined by Students for Justice in Palestine and unequivocally condemns today's attacks by the administration and the San Diego County Sheriffs Department and the California Highway Patrol." – Ethnic Studies Department Faculty | "On Wednesday, May 1, protesters formed a peaceful encampment adjacent to Library Walk, the heart of campus, that was carefully designed so as not to obstruct free movement between and among university facilities. Within the encampment, students and others organized peaceful protest activities, teach-ins, calls to prayer, Shabbat services, and other activities that demonstrated their insistence on a community of protest defined by inclusion and nonviolence. Faculty have been in regular contact with students at the encampment since it was first established, participating to varying degrees in their educational activities. Despite the multiple channels of open and available communication, upper administration nonetheless unilaterally chose a set of actions – summoning multiple heavily-armed law enforcement agencies, the last and most extreme option – rather than an approach that would have been defined by de-escalation, dialogue, and mutual respect." – Department of Communication Faculty
What was senior administration Saying About the Encampment?
"We remind all students, faculty and staff that sanctions for violating university policy and/or the law can include interim suspension, suspension, dismissal or legal action." || "It is with great regret that we announce the cancellation of the Sun God Festival, originally scheduled to take place on May 4, 2024 at RIMAC Field. This decision was not made lightly. Due to ongoing protest activity adjacent to Library Walk, our campus security resources that would otherwise be available to ensure the safety and security of the people participating in Sun God mist be deployed elsewhere to support the overall security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors, and ensure the continuity of operations and the fulfillment of our academic mission." || "Police shifted to emergency staffing (12 hours-on, 12 hours-off, no days off) to provide 24/7 security to the encampment, diverting resources from other public safety activities and imposing a tremendous burden on the department's officers." || "Social media requests began immediately for fundraising support of the encampment." || "Discussions with the encampment were increasingly difficult, there was no consistent person to communicate with, no one claimed to have any authority, and shifting representatives deflected responsibility and accountability for communications, actions or follow-up. || A-frame signage was added near the camp entrance on Library Walk with relevant campus and state rules and regulations." || "Two campus notices from the chancellor were sent between May 1 and May 5 – articulating concerns, declaring the camp illegal, and telling individuals to leave." || "Non-affiliates including members of the Black Panthers, Antifa, and the Communist Revolutionary Group arrived at the camp site, provided perimeter security to the site positioned at intervals around the camp perimeter, and trained the camp participants in physical techniques to resist arrest." || "Our hearts are heavy in the face of the horrific attack on Israel over the weekend, which involved the loss of many innocent lives and the abduction of innocent hostages, including children and the elderly. This was an act of terrorism, launched on a major Jewish holiday. What should have been a quiet weekend of rest turned into days of unspeakable terror and shock. The violence is deeply disturbing, and as of this moment we still do not know the fate of the hostages. This act deserves and requires our collective condemnation." || "The safety of the entire campus – including the individuals in the encampment – required dismantling the illegal camp. University leaders took the path of precaution and prevention rather than risk and devastation." || "Clearing the illegal encampment and unlawful assembly proceeded only after numerous warnings and opportunities to leave and was handled with extreme professionalism by the law enforcement officers." || "The violence at UCLA yesterday [anti-Palestinian vigilantes] was despicable and unacceptable. The Regents of the University of California will not tolerate violations of the law." || "I write to express my unequivocal condemnation of Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack on Israel and targeting of civilians. I stand completely aligned with University of California Board of Regents Chair Richard Leib and UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D." || "Because of the commitment to free expression on campus, University leaders determined that normal business operations must include normal free expression activities." || "58 students will begin moving through the student conduct process as noted in the 1) campus notices, 2) handouts personally delivered by staff members, 3) A-Frames in the location, 4) interpersonal communications, and 5) verbal warnings delivered over loudspeakers by law enforcement." || "Associated Students (AS) is in disarray and struggling to be a content-neutral governing body."
Reflections on the senior administration's Violent Dismantlement of the Encampment
"When they put me in cuffs, what immediately came to mind was the mass graves that they found in Gaza, people who were found wearing the exact same cuffs that were found dead and buried there. So I wasn’t scared of anything that police or school could do to me because it’s nothing in comparison to what other people are currently experiencing — what the martyrs in Palestine experienced before they died." – Millian | "Today’s events directly contradict what we teach, including the rich history of activism at UCSD, which has long been celebrated as a beacon of social change and progress. The actions taken by the administration stand in stark contrast to these values, undermining the very ethos of our institution and betraying the legacy of those who have fought tirelessly to make UCSD a place where activism is not only welcomed but celebrated." – UC San Diego Graduate Students | "We are especially troubled by administration’s repeated turn to 'safety,' including language in Chancellor Khosla's May 5th email, to justify retaliation against students. His claim that encampment activities are 'dangerous' and pose a safety concern stand in contrast to mainstream media descriptions of the campus protest." – San Diego Faculty Association | "When the sliding doors opened and we heard the crowd, it made me feel like I wasn't alone. In my experience being arrested, in my struggle against police, and in my struggle for a free Palestine, just that indescribable feeling of solidarity. It was that feeling of solidarity in is purest form, when people came out in solidarity with us and the cause." – Willy | "Although the campus was essentially closed down to students, staff, and faculty on the morning of May 6 with very little notice, the media were present to document the police response, situating themselves primarily behind a line of officers clad in riot gear. News cameras appeared to have been given unfettered access to the scene, often moving freely among mobilized police officers while protesters were cordoned off into separate areas. In addition, after protesters were cleared from the encampment, local media were permitted to roam through the area, broadcasting their own perusal of personal belongings and other materials... Police appeared to selectively remove items of clothing from the students; most notably, in several instances visible on local media’s news streams, police were seen deliberately and roughly removing keffiyehs from around protesters’ necks, which they then dropped to the ground and trampled." – UC San Diego Department of Communication Faculty | "Can nobody see what’s going on? Is nobody gonna stand up for us? I thought of the kids in Gaza. So this is what it’s like to live in a camp, except we have a ton of resources and community support. So imagine what it’s like living in a camp without those things. And then you’re standing in front of the police, and you’re like, now imagine your mom is 10 feet under the rubble." – Sunflower | "We demand the immediate resignation of Chancellor Khosla. His actions this morning placed hundreds of students in danger at the hands of aggressive, militantly organized police and resulted in arrests and injuries; violated the constitutional rights of our students to peacefully assemble and protest; and demonstrated a level of hostility against our students that has absolutely no place among University leadership... We demand police be removed from campus immediately and permanently. UCPD, San Diego County Sheriffs, California Highway Patrol, and all other police have no place on the UC San Diego campus and should never be called upon to surveil, repress, and threaten our students." – UC San Diego Ethnic Studies Department Faculty
Reflections on the Ground Invasion of Rafah
"Good morning from Gaza. Good morning from Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital... People are treated as a herd of sheep that is being herded by a shepherd who has no mercy whatsoever and who is dictating whatever he wants or she wants, because they have the ultimate power to do things, and they have the ultimate power to destroy anything they want, with the most sophisticated technology they have been using. Mothers are killed with their sons. Fathers are killed with their daughters and sons, whole families wiped out, and even now in Rafah area, in the east, west, south now and north in Rafah. In the Gaza south area, in the Gaza north area, in the Gaza central area, nonstop bombardment. And people who were asked to leave Rafah are now in Gaza central area or in Khan Younis, and they are still seeing with their own eyes — I mean, again, the lucky ones who are surviving the bombardments are seeing with their own eyes that there is no safe haven in Gaza Strip. Death is the one major risk enveloping the lives of the people of Gaza" – Akram Al-Satarri | "Mere statements alone are insufficient to halt the invasion of Rafah or address Israel’s genocidal military campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. What is urgently required are tangible, decisive actions. Our organizations urgently implore the international community to take immediate and decisive action, utilizing all available means, to prevent further atrocities, including applying and imposing economic sanctions, arms embargo, and other countermeasures until Israel adheres to its obligations under international law. Lastly, we once again urge the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately issue arrest warrants for every member of the Israeli war cabinet, who are deemed responsible for orchestrating the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza." – The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al Mezan and Al-Haq | "The Israeli military’s “evacuation orders” are unlawful and amount to forcible transfer, a grave violation of international humanitarian law (IHL)... The Israeli military ground invasion of Rafah is disrupting the humanitarian response, in breach of the UN Security Council resolutions 2720 and 2728 as well as the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures ordering Israel to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance... Every hour during which Israeli forces occupy the crossings of Rafah and Kerem Shalom / Karm Abu Salem condemns more Palestinians to starvation and denial of medical care." – Amnesty International and 19 Other NGOs | "The graphic images and cell phone video recordings that have been circulating on social media — a headless child, charred bodies of children, women and children frantically running in all directions trying to escape the fires — are painful to watch. They bring Israeli atrocities in Gaza to a new level of unspeakable cruelty and horror.I don’t know how anyone can recover from this gruesome monstrosity. Do we mourn the dead infants or weep for those who have just been orphaned? Do we scream for those children who have been maimed, or for the parents who had to wrap their loved ones in white shrouds?" | Michael Mourshabeck | "Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and withdraw from the enclave, in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, citing 'immense ris'” to the Palestinian population... Friday’s decision marked the third time this year the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza. While orders are legally binding, the court has no police to enforce them... Israel must 'immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,' [Nawaf] Salam said, and called the humanitarian situation in Rafah 'disastrous'" – Al Jazeera Staff | "'The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,' said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel]. 'It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention... Explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group.'" – UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel | "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip... The assault on Palestinians in Gaza cannot be separated from the escalating violence being inflicted, at varying levels and in different forms, on Palestinians living under Israeli rule in the West Bank and within Israel. The violence and destruction in these areas is intensifying over time, with no effective domestic or international mechanism acting to halt them. We warn of the clear and present danger that the genocide will not remain confined to the Gaza Strip, and that the actions and underlying mindset driving it may be extended to other areas as well. The recognition that the Israeli regime is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, and the deep concern that it may expand to other areas where Palestinians live under Israeli rule, demand urgent and unequivocal action from both Israeli society and the international community, and use of every means available under international law to stop Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people." – B'Tselem