The last time we checked on UCLA’s Hamas-Hate-Camp, student protesters there were issuing a series of demands including vegan food, zip-ties, and gas masks.
It turns out that behind-the scenes, student demonstrators were also participating in combat training.
…[D]rone footage taken just before officers stormed shows the students learning hand-to-hand combat techniques.The group can be seen doling out instructions via megaphone as one balaclava-wearing member appears to act out self-defense tactics – in scenes that reminded some online commenters of jihadi-like training.The group filmed performed various scenarios to a crowd that assembled in a circle around them. At one point, one of the group members approaches another and appears to strike them in the head.A second demonstration shows an individual appearing to act out how to pull someone’s leg after being kicked.
That was before police took down their encampment.
In the pre-dawn hours, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California in Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA, and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and on Thursday.”I’m a student here,” one UCLA protester told cameras as he was led away, his hands bound. “Please don’t fail us. Don’t fail us.”Hours later, the student, who would only give his first name as Ryan, was back on campus and vowed he would not stop fighting.”We will be back,” said Ryan, who was cited for unlawful assembly. “We will be disrupting. We will be demanding divestment.”
Meanwhile, another University of California institution is dealing with its own Hamas Hate Camp. UC San Diego, my alma mater, has cancelled its famous Sun God Festival because of the demonstration.
UC San Diego abruptly canceled this weekend’s Sun God Festival on Thursday, citing the encampment that pro-Palestinian students and supporters created a day earlier on campus.“This decision was not made lightly,” the university said in a message to the campus community late Thursday.“Due to ongoing protest activity adjacent to Library Walk, our campus security resources that would otherwise be available to ensure the safety and security of the people participating in Sun God must be deployed elsewhere to support the overall security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors …“We know that this event is a beloved campus tradition and understand the disappointment that this decision causes for many.”
I am very sad for this generation of students. The Sun God Festival was eclectic but fun. Fun fact: I did a belly-dance show at the 1991 festival.
The “Gaza Solidarity Camp” is simply a travesty after the events of October 7th. My only hope at this point is that the campus remains peaceful.
Catering to cultists only ensures more cultism. I do not see how any of this ends well for either the students or the universities.
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