Campus Watch April 30, 2024

UCLA Jewish Student Blocked from Entering Campus by Pro-Palestinian Protesters

A video is circulating on social of UCLA Jewish student Eli Tsives being blocked from entering campus by a group of masked pro-Palestinian protesters.

In the video, the protesters form a barrier and moved to block Tsives, who is wearing a Star of David necklace, from entering campus through what appeared to be the main entrance as a security officer stood nearby. “I’m a UCLA student, I deserve to go here, we pay tuition, this is our school, and they’re not letting me in,” he said to the protesters. “My class is over there, I want to use that entrance… will you let me go in?” The protesters simply tell him that they’re “not engaging” and blocked Tsives every time he attempted to go through the entrance.

“That’s what they do, everybody,” Tsives said. “You guys are promoting aggression, you guys are promoting hate. We are UCLA students, we deserve to be there.”

Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement on April 30: “This kind of disruption to our teaching and learning mission is abhorrent, plain and simple. As such, we’ve taken several, immediate actions: Our student conduct process has been initiated, and could lead to severe disciplinary action including expulsion or suspension. The barriers that demonstrators used to block this student’s access to class have been removed and we have staff located around Royce Quad to help ensure that they will not go up again.”

Columbia Pro-Palestinian Protesters Barricade Themselves Into University Building

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University are occupying the university’s Hamilton Hall and are refusing to leave until the university acquiesces to their demands to completely divest from Israel.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), “masked individuals smashed windows and blocked doors with metal tables in the early hours of the morning after administrators began suspending protesting students for failing to comply with an order to disperse.” The Columbia Daily Spectator reported that protesters unfurled banners stating “Intifada” and “Gaza Calls, Columbia Falls” and that one facilities worker claimed that the protesters held him hostage inside. The university announced on April 30 that only those with university IDs and “essential personnel” are allowed on campus and that students involved in the occupation of Hamilton Hall “face expulsion.”

The building occupation comes after the university began suspending students for refusing to comply with the university’s 2 pm deadline for the encampment to disperse. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said that the White House condemns the protesters’ use of “hate speech” like “intifada” and that “forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful — it is wrong,” per Axios.

Columbia Pro-Palestinian Student Organizer Banned from Campus After Video Emerges of Him Saying “Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live”

Columbia University banned student Khymani James, who organized pro-Palestinian protests on campus, after video footage emerged of him saying in January that “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” Fox News reported.

The video, which was first unearthed by The Daily Wire, was from James saying in a livestream that Zionists are white supremacists and that they “need to not exist, because they actively kill and harm vulnerable people.” James also said that while he doesn’t advocate for killing Zionists,  “if an individual that identifies as a Zionist threatens my physical safety in person, i.e., puts their hands on me, I am going to defend myself. And in that scenario, it may come to a point where I don’t know when to stop.” The university’s disciplinary proceedings against James are ongoing.

James issued a statement on April 26 saying that “what I said was wrong” and that he “misspoke in the heat of the moment, for which I apologize.”

Northwestern University, Pro-Palestinian Protesters Reach Deal to End Encampment

Northwestern University announced on April 29 that they have reached an agreement with pro-Palestinian protesters to end their encampment.

CBS Chicago reported that, under the agreement, the protesters’ encampment will be allowed to continue until June 1, when the quarter ends. As part of the agreement, the university will revive an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility that will feature students, faculty and staff on it. Additionally, “the university will support visiting Palestinian faculty and students at risk” and “provide immediate temporary space to MENA [Middle East and North Africa]/Muslim students,” the agreement states.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Midwest chapter called the agreement “dangerous.” “For days, protesters violated campus codes of conduct and policies, intentionally fanned the flames of hate and antisemitism, and wreaked havoc on campus life,” ADL Midwest said. “Instead of holding the perpetrators accountable, the university rewarded them… What about Jewish students who have been victims of vicious antisemitic harassment and continued intimidation on campus for months while the university stayed silent?”

Twenty-five Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested at Cal Poly Humboldt

Twenty-five pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on April 30 after taking part in an encampment at Cal Poly Humboldt that occupied two buildings and shut down the campus for the rest of the semester.

A spokeswoman for the university told Campus Reform that the two buildings occupied by the protesters have been “cleared and secured” and that the protesters could face several charges, including vandalism and assault of a police officer. “The University had made repeated efforts over the last week to resolve the situation,” the spokeswoman said. “This morning’s enforcement action was determined to be necessary to restore order and to address the lawlessness and dangerous conditions that had developed.”