Pro-Palestine camp-ins continue at SoCal universities

Pro-Palestine camp-ins continue at SoCal schools

While hundreds have been arrested at pro-Palestine demonstrations at UCLA and USC, demonstrators remain at other universities across Southern California, like UC Irvine, Cal State LA and more.

IRVINE, Calif. - Pro-Palestine camp-in demonstrations continued Saturday at a handful of college campuses across Southern California.
At UC Irvine, pro-Palestine protesters entered their sixth day of camping on Saturday. The students are calling on their university to divest from all companies tied to Israel.

"We don’t want our tuition money to be paying for the genocide [of] the Gazan people [by] the Israeli government," said Sarah Khalil, a UCI student and protest organizer.

Other pro-Palestine camp-in protests are taking place at Cal State LA, Chapman University, and Occidental College. Demonstrators at UC Riverside Friday reached a deal with university leadership who agreed to be transparent with investments.

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"This generation really is showing people we’re fed up," said Khalil. "We’re fed up with seeing a genocide happening right in front of us and people standing against us telling us no".

This week, violent clashes occurred at UCLA between counter-protesters and demonstrators. At least 15 people were injured, including some who were badly beaten. Early Thursday morning, 210 people were arrested at UCLA as the camp-in was shut down. The week before, almost 100 people were arrested while protesting at USC.

"It really shows that they care more about supporting a genocide rather than their own students that were on their own school grounds," said Khalil.

At UCLA, pro-Palestine demonstrators spray-painted graffiti on buildings and walkways. In comparison, protesters at UC Irvine are instead using chalk to write their messages. However, some people view their messages as offensive towards Jewish people.

We asked Khalil, if she could denounce Hamas. "I’d rather not answer that question," said Khalil.

Then, FOX 11 asked if she could comment about the people currently held hostage by Hamas.

"I can’t say anything about that either," said Khalil.

The protesters at UC Irvine said they have met with university officials and are negotiating their demands. However, no deal has been agreed to. Protesters plan to continue camping on campus until a deal is reached.

"Right now, we’re disrupting the university," said Khalil. "We’re staying here until our demands are met".