Pro-Palestinian UC Riverside students continued camping in the middle of campus for a third day on Wednesday, May 1, and staged a walkout and rally.
But all was orderly the morning after tensions between .
I’m at UC Riverside’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment, where demonstrators have begun a noon walkout –
— Sarah Hofmann (@sarahxhofmann)
The UCR started with about 25 tents erected beside the Bell Tower on Monday, April 29. By Wednesday, the encampment was larger, and senior Hibah Nassar estimated that its daytime numbers have fluctuated between 100 and 150 participants, with 50 to 60 sleeping overnight.
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Though at least one person at UCLA was taken away in an ambulance, the demonstration at UCR remained peaceful Wednesday.
At noon, a few hundred students gathered for what was billed as a walkout, though it was not clear how many students left classroom sessions. Some carried posters and several waved Palestinian flags. Students with megaphones took turns leading others in chants.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” one went.
Chanting and marching to the beat of a drum, participants moved from the Bell Tower to Hinderaker Hall, UCR’s administration. Several students addressed the crowd, repeating their demands. They gave an update on the morning meeting with administrators and said students are on track to have their demands met.
Nassar also spoke at the rally.
“As we’re approaching graduation season,” she said, she can only think of her 21-year-old cousin, who was nearing graduation when she and her family were killed; and her 8-year-old cousin, “who so much wanted to be a doctor when she grew up,” and before her death would talk about coming to the U.S. to attend medical school.
Instead, Nassar said, she was buried “without her head attached to her body, after the Israeli genocidal machine bombed her and her entire family.”
The group then returned to Bell Tower to continue the sit-in.
Nassar said earlier Wednesday that she feels the UCLA clash could have been avoided had administrators taken more steps “to acknowledge and respect its Palestinian students” and hear out the protesters.
She said that UCR students’ first demand – for the university to end its silence on the genocide in Gaza – was met within five hours, with Chancellor Kim Wilcox emailing a statement to the student body that acknowledged the events in Gaza as a “humanitarian crisis.”
“We are still not leaving until our demands are met, until we receive tangible actions from administration,” she said. “So we are waiting to hear more soon.”
Demonstrators believe the university will take action and that progress is being made.
“We’re seeing at other universities, where students are being hospitalized due to attacks, where students are being assaulted, where administration is suspending or arresting students, where administration is calling the National Guard on students — and here at UC Riverside, we’re making leeway.”
UCR spokesperson John Warren released a comment from the chancellor Wednesday afternoon that said the parties hope to meet again this week.
“The student leaders were thoughtful in their approach to our meeting, and I was encouraged by the direction of the conversation,” Wilcox said.
At this time, there will be no changes to commencement, Warren said.
UCR is hosting a weekend event for prospective students and their families and some modifications are being made because of the protesters, he wrote.
Warren didn’t say whether administrators had specified how long the encampment would be allowed to remain.
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The effort at UCR isn’t the only example of Inland Empire student activism related to the war.
On Monday, about 200 Cal Poly Pomona students demonstrated on their campus, marching from the quad to the student center while holding signs and large Palestinian flags.
And earlier this month, a student demonstration at Pomona College in support of Palestinians of 20 people after students occupied an administration building and would not leave.
More Inland area activism is on the horizon.
A protest has been called for 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 2, at Cal State San Bernardino on the library lawn.
“END THE GENOCIDE NOW!!,” begins an Instagram post from the campus’ Students for Justice in Palestine organization.
“Join us in demanding that the California State University divest from all ties with Israel, especially those linked to the military industrial complex,” it states. “Our protest aims to uphold justice and accountability. Let’s make our voices heard for a world free from complicity in oppression.”
At UCR, Wilcox wrote a that said, under campus policy, protesters’ signs and banners would be taken down. He also ordered their sidewalk chalk drawings removed and insisted that the demonstrators allow “unfettered access to spaces at or near the Bell Tower.”
“UCR must continue to prioritize the purpose of the university, which is teaching, research, and public service,” Wilcox wrote. “Thank you for your patience as we navigate this complex matter with sensitivity and respect.”
The demonstrators remained Wednesday, though Monday’s chalk drawings had been replaced with new ones. Students said campus staff were washing them away each morning.
