One week in, student encampment at Cal State LA nearly doubles in size 

Student protestors demonstrated at California State University, Los Angeles on Wednesday as part of the CSU-wide day of action. Demonstrators at various CSUs rallied in support of Palestinians and continued to demand Cal State’s disinvestment in Israeli-based companies.

Students for Justice in Palestine at Cal State LA, a student-led group that supports the Palestinian people, established an encampment on a grassy area outside the physical education building on May 1. Demonstrators barricaded the perimeter using everything from classroom equipment and plywood to newspaper boxes and wooden pallets. Since then, protestors have further reinforced the barricade to protect the privacy of those inside. 

SJP is asking the University to terminate its connections with institutions financially linked to Israel. Sarah, an SJP member at the encampment who chose only to disclose her first name, said the protest will continue until the University fulfills the group’s demands. 

“Regardless if we are students or community members, we’re all here for a certain purpose; we’re all here for Gaza, and we all want to stop the genocide,” Sarah said. 

Israel is currently at war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Conflict arose on Oct. 7 after a Hamas attack on Israel killed more than 1,200 people. The Israeli government has since launched attacks on the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians reside, killing 34,000 people. 

The broader CSU system is known to have investments with companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, a US-based defense technology company, and Elbit Systems, an Israel-based military technology company. SJP wants the University to disclose its entire list of monetary connections to Israel. 

Sarah also mentioned how campus police presence has been minimal during the day but has increased during the evenings. A few anti-encampment agitators have also shown up each day, and she said she expected more to come as media coverage increases.

Freshman Sophia Wirth, who sat near the encampment, said she didn’t think the protest had a disruptive presence on campus. Wirth hasn’t followed the conflict closely but said she is stunned to see the killing of so many Palestinian people by Israeli forces. 

“Israel is killing a lot of innocent people right now, which I’m not exactly educated on the whole war crime thing, but I feel like it’s a war crime to kill innocent civilians,” Wirth said.

Organizations such as IfNotNow, a Jewish-run organization dedicated to advocating for equality for Palestinians and Jews, showed up to donate supplies to the protestors. IfNotNow member Pini Herman said the organization was present at the UCLA encampment and wanted to start supporting Cal State LA students. “We’d heard about it [the encampment], and we thought we’d like to make it better known,” Herman said. 

SPJ’s action at Cal State LA is just the latest in a string of student-led demonstrations that have popped up nationwide. Students have been asking for their universities to divest from companies and institutions that support the Israeli military. 

Most of these encampments and protests have been met with violence from law enforcement and anti-Palestine protestors. During a protest last week at UCLA, a confrontation arose between the pro-Gaza crowd and counter-protestors. By Thursday, police had arrested 200 people in connection with the vandalism and violence tied to the encampment. 

Across the country, Protesters at other colleges have reached agreements with their school administration. Northwestern and Brown announced agreements with protestors last week, soon followed by the University of California Riverside, Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Minnesota. 

Northwestern’s agreement gives students representation on an investment committee, promises to aid Palestinian students on campus, and allows students to peacefully protest on campus until June 1.

None of the schools, however, have committed to divesting from Israel, but they say it will provide more information about the source of their funding and limit disciplinary actions against students. 

Cal State LA has yet to respond to Boyle Heights Beat’s request for comment. Still, the school’s president, Berenecea J. Eanes, said in a statement on Sunday that although she supported the student’s right to protest, the university does not condone graffiti and other acts of vandalism:

“We support peaceful protests and demonstrations. We believe in the power of using our voices, individually and collectively, to affect positive change. We are dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good. But we cannot condone unlawful activities that put people’s safety and well-being at risk.”