One arrested as UCLA police dismantle ‘Gaza solidarity sukkah’ and disperse student protest

One person was arrested at UCLA on Monday night on suspicion of failing to disperse after the university’s Police Department ordered around 40 protesters to leave Dickson Court North, where they had established a “Gaza solidarity Sukkah” and a handful of tents, authorities said.

Student protesters erected the sukkah Monday morning to observe the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and demand the university divest from companies that do business with Israel and call for an end to the war in Palestine. By Monday evening, students had also set up a small number of tents.

At 3:20 p.m., UCPD issued a statement saying that students were assembling in an area not designated for public expression, using unauthorized structures and amplified sound — all of which violate the protest policies enacted in September in response to the massive pro-Palestinian protests that rattled campus in April.

According to reporting from the Daily Bruin, a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters arrived in Dickson Court North around 8 p.m., and pro-Palestinian protesters began dismantling their tents around 8:20 p.m.

The department issued an order to disperse about 10 minutes later, after which most of the protesters left the area, according to UCPD. Hired security guards then removed the sukkah, according to the Bruin.

Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish holiday that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the biblical story of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years after escaping slavery in Egypt. During this time, Jews eat, dwell and pray in outdoor structures known as sukkahs to remember the fragile structures their ancestors lived in after fleeing Egypt.

Student protest organizers said they were using the holiday to call attention to the displacement and death inflicted on Palestinians and Lebanese people by Israel.

“I refuse to observe Sukkot as normal when university investments continue to fund the genocide of Palestinians,” said protest organizer Leah Jacobson in a statement. “The principle of pikuach nefesh, or saving a soul, demands we put other laws aside in order to preserve human life. I am here aligning my Jewish practice with my support for Palestinian liberation.”

Protesters are demanding the university divest from weapons and surveillance system manufacturers that do business with Israel such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

The UC system has repeatedly opposed calls for divestment saying it impinges on the academic freedom of the university community. The UC system also states that tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations and that none of these funds are used for investment purposes.