Police Have Arrested More Than 200 Pro-Palestinian Protestors At UCLA

socraticdailyMay 2, 2024

Police have arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian protestors at UCLA. This is part of an effort to break up the protestors’ encampment. UCLA’s Chancellor Gene Block said that 200 pro-Palestinian protestors left the encampment voluntarily.

Block released a letter to the campus saying in part; “Our community is in deep pain. We are reeling from days of violence and division. And we hope with all our hearts that we can return to a place where our students, faculty and staff feel safe and, one day, connected again.”

Block noted that “demonstrators directly interfered with instruction by blocking students’ pathways to classrooms.” He also said that those who remained in the encampment into the late hours were given multiple warnings to disperse prior to law enforcement entering.

All of this comes amid growing pro-Palestinian protests across the United States. On Thursday, President Biden was forced to respond to the protests sweeping the nation. The President said that while free speech is a time honored American principle, hate speech and the targeting of Jewish students by these protestors have no place in America.

Of course, the fact that the pro-Palestinian protestors are simply in the wrong is not part of this equation. They are arguing against a nation, Israel, that is faced with either annihilation, or a difficult war in which Hamas ensures that civilians will be killed. And which Israel will be blamed for. But being wrong in your protests is not against the law. It is sad how misguided so many of these college students are though.

Police have arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA. Will the protests on college campuses die down? It’s hard to imagine they do any time soon.

Geopolitics