“UCLA tried to force me to choose between being a student or being a Jew,” a third year law student said.
Two dozens students from schools sought to gain first-hand knowledge of the October 7 massacre by meeting key Israeli figures and visiting the impacted towns.
Anti-Israel activists clashed with police as they attempted to reestablish a protest encampment at UCLA.
The expanding work stoppage marks the first union-backed protest in solidarity with the recent wave of student-led demonstrations on dozens of US campuses against the war in Gaza.
University officials and police came under harsh criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom and others for how they responded to the confrontation.
University leaders faced intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill for their handling of antisemitism and campus protests since October 7, addressing violence and controversial administrative responses.
Masked assailants, later described by university officials as "instigators," stormed the camp with clubs and poles, a skirmish between the two sides ensued until broken up by police.
Groups like JVP and SJP, under the banner of human rights and justice, often venture far beyond peaceful protest into realms that many find both morally and legally questionable.
Commemorating six million victims of the Holocaust on Sunday night and Monday, let us remember that the main difference between then and today is the fact that today we have an independent state.
"They had me completely surrounded,” he told CNN. “They were saying I was an Israeli agitator, I don’t even know what that is,” he added.
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