“Hold the line”: in the last stand of the pro-Palestinian demonstration at UCLA

The resounding orders to “hold the line” and “pass the helmets to the front” could have come from UCLA campus police commanders.

But instead, they came from the leaders of a pro-group.Palestinian student camp as they tried to organize the troops.

Almost no journalists were allowed access to the tent camp, occupied mainly by students last week.

I was there to witness their final battle from the inside.

They were outnumbered by the police and outsized in terms of weight and equipment. Where police had rubber bullets and riot shields, protesters had wooden pallets and umbrellas for protection.

But for hours they resisted the advance, tying tarpaulins with string and cable ties to reinforce the perimeter around the camp.

Learn more: Why are university students protesting in the United States?

When the police destroyed the building, they clenched their arms in defiance, chanting “shame” at the police.

Riot police began tearing down the barricades from outside and were met with chemical spray from protesters. A police officer suffered a violent heave after inhaling the substance.

The air was thick with smoke and the sound of flashbangs fired by police was constant.

Rubber bullets were fired into the crowd, and I saw at least one man lying on a stretcher.

Some students were pushed to the ground and arrested one by one. “This is ridiculous,” one of them shouted as he was led away.

Between 200 and 300 people were taken into custody, according to two police sources.

Most, if not all, are expected to be cited and released for crimes including trespassing, vandalism and/or assaulting police officers.

The scale and strength of the police response will also be examined, as well as its necessity.

After all, it was a largely peaceful protest, with students calling on the university to sever its financial ties with Israel.

Violence only escalated on Tuesday evening when counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian faction, throwing objects and fireworks into the camp compound.

For almost three hours, the police were nowhere to be found and the students were bloodied and beaten.

Violent scenes on two consecutive nights at UCLA and across the country this movement has spreadurged President Biden speak publicly about the issue for the first time.

“Violent demonstrations are not protected. Peaceful demonstrations are,” he announced from the White House.

“Destruction of property is not peaceful protest, it is against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, campus closures, forced cancellation of classes and graduations: none of this is is a peaceful demonstration.”

I saw what had been done at UCLA’s Royce Hall, one of the largest buildings at one of America’s most prestigious universities.

The beautiful stone arch is now covered in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli graffiti, with “f*** Israel” on the walls and “Free Gaza” spray-painted on the floor.

The demonstrators will say that the material damage is nothing compared to the the fate of the population of Gaza.

But the way they make their statement is undoubtedly divisive.