Organizers from Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine (Graduate SJP), joined by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), set up a Gaza Solidarity Sukkah at Dickson Court North on the morning of October 21, 2024. Sukkahs are temporary booths constructed for the seven-day celebration of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Booths, a Jewish tradition that commemorates the exodus from Egypt and the autumn harvest. In a statement, Graduate SJP wrote that “all who believe in justice and liberation for Palestine are welcome at this interfaith observation of Sukkot.”
This post, updated by members of our News Department, seeks to provide up-to-date information and developments about the Palestine Solidarity Sukkah, and will be periodically updated. Throughout the day, The News Department will also maintain immediate, real-time updates on X (formerly Twitter):
Live Feed:
9:30pm – Protesters disperse, law enforcement dismantles the Sukkah
Most demonstrators peacefully followed a dispersal order by UCPD, although one person was detained around 9 p.m. for not following the order. Police officers, completely blocking off Dickson Court, mostly left after dismantling the Gaza Solidarity Sukkah.
CSC Security officers have loaded the dismantled Sukkah into the back of a truck, and continue to bar access to Dickson Court.This update concludes UCLA Radio’s live news coverage of the 10/21/24 Palestine solidarity demonstrations. If any more important developments occur, updates will be posted to our X (formerly Twitter) thread.
8:33pm – CSC event staff on scene, demonstrators relocate to School of Law
All auxiliary structures have been removed from Dickson Court North, with the Sukkah still standing in the center. A group of CSC event staff have arrived on scene, and law enforcement has blocked Portola Plaza between Dodd Hall and Bunche Hall.
8:25pm – Demonstrators begin to disperse
Demonstrators have dispersed from Dickson Court North, taking down their canopies and moving toward Dodd Hall. Members of law enforcement are attempting to block the demonstrators from leaving.
8:13pm – Counter-protestors escalate tensions in Dickson Court North
A group of counter-protesters has arrived at Dickson Court North, surrounding the Sukkah. A member of the counter-protesting group yells “it’s over, get out!.” UCPD is present on the scene in riot gear.
7:05 pm – Demonstrators erect tents in Dickson Court North
Demonstrators have set up 3 tents in Dickson Court North, while organizers have condensed the protest’s structures around the Sukkah in anticipation of potential police confrontation.
5:15pm – CSC Security confronts protesters in attempt to tear down banner
CSC security officers returned in an attempt to tear down the new banner that read “UCPD is fascist, abolition now!” As demonstrators moved to block the officers from removing the sign, UCPD officers entered the courtyard in riot gear to support CSC security. As they retreated, Gaza solidarity protesters chanted “cops off campus.”
The banner outside Perloff Hall has since been replaced with one that reads “DIVEST FROM GENOCIDE, behind a sign hung from a lamp post that reads “Resistance is justified, from Warsaw to Palestine.”
4:20pm – UCPD photographs demonstrators at the Sukkah
UCPD officers stopped in Dickson Court North to take pictures of demonstrators at the Gaza Solidarity Sukkah. In its post on X (see previous update), UCPD stated that it will “continue to monitor the situation,” and UCLA Public Safety Aides remain at the corners of Dickson Court North.
Organizers have since hung a banner between two trees in Dickson Court that reads “UCLA, who do you protect?”
3:20pm – UCPD posts a statement on X
At 3:20pm, UCLA Police Department posted an update on X, stating that individuals demonstrating in Dickson Court North are “violating university policy.” UCPD cites UCLA’s Time, Place, and Manner policies, which outline regulations for public expression on university property.
2:27pm – CSC Security tears down banner outside Perloff Hall
12 private security officers from CSC Security tore down the banner outside Perloff Hall that read “By Soul, By Blood.” Palestine Solidarity demonstrators have replaced the banner with one that reads “UCPD is fascist, abolition now!”
In their “Meet the Martyrs” event earlier this month, SJP distributed a pamphlet demanding that UCLA end campus policing, including the abolition of UCPD and the barring of external police departments from campus.
1:07pm – Students refuse to take down Gaza Solidarity Sukkah
In a tweet, UCPD called the Gaza Solidarity Sukkah an “unauthorized demonstration” and affirmed that it is currently monitoring the protest. Dickson Court North is not among the “areas for public expression” designated by UCLA’s controversial Time, Place and Manner policies. A representative from UCLA Student Affairs warned that if the Sukkah is not taken down, the Office of Campus Safety will respond.
According to UCLA’s Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), students have refused these university officials’ demands to remove the Sukkah. Graduate SJP, in response to threats of a police sweep, wrote that they “stand firm: justice cannot be swept away.”
12:45pm – Gaza Solidarity Sukkah grows in Dickson Court North
Since being set up at around 9 a.m. in the morning, the crowd at the Gaza Solidarity Sukkah has steadily grown, chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Stop the funding, now!” to the beat of drums. Organizers have set up three canopies around the Sukkah and a green banner outside Perloff Hall that reads “By Soul, By Blood.”
UCLA’s Gaza Solidarity Sukkah follows similar protests on campuses across the country, such as Northwestern University and UC Berkeley. Graduate SJP has reiterated the five demands of the UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment, namely that UCLA disclose its assets; divest from companies tied to Israel; and “end campus repression.”
