Early on the 1st, a masked pro-Israel group assaulted students who supported Palestine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where students were camping out to protest against Israel and other countries over the war in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian autonomous region. It trembled. Police intervened, but some criticized the slow response.



Clashes between pro-Israel groups and pro-Palestinian students occurred around the time the date changed to the 1st. State officials and university officials said they immediately deployed security personnel to Dixon Plaza, where protesters were encamped.


Meanwhile, those at the scene say police did not act quickly enough. The student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, wrote, ``Even late into the night, there was no movement (to mediate between the two sides).''


"The police just stood at the edge of the lawn and did not move even as we screamed for help," the group UC Divest at LA, which was participating in the protest encampment, claimed in a statement.



California Governor Gavin Newsom said police's "limited and delayed" intervention was "unacceptable. We demand answers about this."


Protesters began leaving the scene about two hours after the pro-Israel group's attack began. Police took control of the scene around dawn on the 1st, and a tight security situation is currently in place.


Protests against the war in the Gaza Strip have spread at American universities, and on April 30, police stormed a building occupied by students at Columbia University in New York City and removed protesters.


The anti-Gaza war demonstrations that began several weeks ago at Columbia University have inspired similar actions by students at universities in more than 20 states, regardless of their size and whether they are public or private.


Protesters demand that universities "defund genocide." They are calling on universities to stop investing and investing university funds in arms manufacturing companies and other industries that support Israel's attack on Gaza.


Attack on pro-Palestinian protesters

UCLA canceled a protest on the 1st in an attempt to defuse tensions in the central plaza of its Westwood campus.


On April 30, the university declared that a pro-Palestinian encampment set up in the shadow of Royce Hall on campus constituted an unlawful assembly.


Pro-Israel groups have been demonstrating against pro-Palestinian forces around the encampment in recent days. The two sides are separated by a narrow buffer zone surrounded by barricades.


Authorities increased security in the area, but said they refrained from disrupting the demonstration, recognizing it as a "largely peaceful" demonstration.


Videos available online show a large group of pro-Israel protesters wearing black clothing and white masks arriving at a pro-Palestinian encampment and attempting to remove barricades around the turn of the day. 


Fireworks and tear gas filled the night sky. Masked groups used sticks and bats to beat protesters in the encampment. They also used tear gas and bear spray to destroy pro-Palestinian signs and boards.


Pro-Israel factions ``escalate''


The student activists complained that their group had been under "persistent" attacks for several days.


Kaia Shah, a pro-Palestinian student, told Reuters that one of her friends "was beaten up here and he had a big lump on the back of his head. "


“We never expected them (pro-Israel factions) to escalate to this level. That our protests would be attacked by groups that oppose us, even though we have done nothing to them. , they are violently hurting us and causing us pain.”


Pro-Palestinian protests have spread across the United States, and outside agitators appear to be increasing their involvement. Under these circumstances, pressure is mounting on university leaders to suppress pro-Palestinian protests.


New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed on the 1st that several of the approximately 300 people arrested at Columbia University were "outsider agitators" who were "taking advantage" of a peaceful protest.