This post was updated May 15 at 7:16 p.m.
UCPD detained one person at a Friday demonstration that recognized the 1948 mass displacement of Palestinians.
Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA organized the protest for Nakba Day – which remembers the roughly 750,000 Palestinians who were displaced by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. UCPD detained one protester outside Boelter Hall around 3 p.m.
Jeffrey Chobanian, the acting captain of UCPD’s operations bureau, said police detained the demonstrator because they used amplified sound in a non-designated area. The Court of Sciences – where Boelter Hall is located – is not a designated place for free expression under UCLA’s Time, Place and Manner policies.
Chobanian added that a complainant said they could not take a midterm examination because of the amplified sound from the protest. UCPD released the detained protester around 3:10 p.m. but will file a crime report with the District Attorney’s office for filing consideration, he added.
“You’re going to continue to see uniformed police officers, we’re going to continue to make arrests if people violate the law,” Chobanian said. “They just simply have to follow the rules.”
About 40 protesters gathered for the demonstration in the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden around 1:30 p.m. Some held banners reading, “Palestine will live forever” and “Remember the Nakba.”
Protesters handed out fabric poppies – the national flower of Palestine – to participants before marching to Bunche Hall around 1:43 p.m. About 15 people participated in a “die-in” – a form of protest in which participants lay on the ground to represent the human cost of a conflict – outside the building to remember the Palestinians who died during the Nakba.
SJP has led frequent on-campus protests since the start of the Israel-Hamas war – when Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people. The Israeli military has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in the offensive it launched in response to the attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The protesters marched to the top of Janss Steps around 2:15 p.m., when three pro-Israel counterprotesters began following the group. About 15 UCPD officers and Student Affairs employees also followed the group throughout the protest.
“By gathering here today, we commit ourselves to give our entire focus, our entire being, into the liberation of Palestine,” a speaker said at the top of Janss Steps.
Demonstrators throughout the protest distributed cardboard cutouts of keys, which symbolize Palestinians’ right to return to their homes, according to Reuters.
“The Nakba destroyed our world – it took our homes and groves but never our humanity,” the speaker said. “My family answered loss with life. They planted seeds in dust, pursued education and kept their honor. I am here at UCLA because of their refusal to vanish.”
Dylan Kupsh, a member of Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, said he has felt intimidated by UCPD’s presence at pro-Palestine protests.
“The police are incredibly unsafe on campus,” said Kupsh, a doctoral student in computer science. “The way that we’re having riot gear police for students going around protesting on campus nonviolently – it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Xuanson Pham, a third-year psychology student at Fullerton College, said they participated in the protest to raise awareness about the Palestinians who died during the Nakba.
“I just hope more people don’t fall into apathy,” Pham said.
The protesters walked to Murphy Hall around 3:15 p.m. while chanting, “UC, UC, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” and “We’ll be back.”
The protest dispersed around 3:20 p.m.
“I want everyone to remind themselves of what marching meant to Palestinians during the Nakba,” a speaker said. “These are death marches, people died, people lost their homes. People lost everything when they were marching.”
Contributing reports by Amanda Velasco and Alexandra Crosnoe, Daily Bruin staff.
