On Monday, October 21st, at 8:22 PM, UCLA Police Department arrived at Dickenson Court in order to tear down a sukkah, which is a tent hosted to celebrate the weeklong Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. UCLA Jewish Voice for Peace and the Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine erected this tent to peacefully protest for divestment of funds from Israel, only to have it torn down by both off-campus counter-protesters as well as the UCPD.
This course of action seems to be a response to the events of April 30th, 2024, which marked some of the worst violence erupting from college campus protests in over a decade, according to the head of UCLA’s Police Department. UCLA students had erected an encampment to signify solidarity with Palestine after Israel’s military attacks in Gaza following Oct 7th and to call for divestment of funds from Israel, which has, as of October 2024, now killed over 130,000 Palestinian civilians in a year. These protesters were targeted by off-campus counter-protesters who incited violence by throwing various objects, using tear gas, and knocking down walls. It took police over 3 hours to arrive at the scene and de-escalate the situation, but the incident remains a topic of conversation regarding the reputation of the nation’s #1 public university to this day.
To prevent any violence and danger to students from happening again, UCLA has imposed strict guidelines on exercising freedom of speech in their new “Time, Place, and Manner” policies for students and staff wishing to engage in peaceful protest. However, in light of recent events, several students have declared these policies to be unfair and mismanaged.
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Festival of Booths, is a Jewish holiday that takes place in the fall, usually in late September or October. It commemorates the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert after their exodus from Egypt, living in temporary shelters or booths (sukkah in Hebrew). It also marks the end of the harvest season, particularly the gathering of fruits like grapes and olives. To celebrate, Jewish families build temporary structures called “sukkahs” with at least one open side, often adorned with fruits, vegetables, and decorative elements. They eat meals inside the sukkah and sometimes sleep there, as a way of connecting with the themes of humility and divine care.
At UCLA, multiple sukkahs were erected around campus to celebrate this holiday. While most were left untouched, one in particular was targeted by both the UCPD and off-campus counter-protesters despite being in one of the acceptable locations for peaceful protest according to the Time, Place, and Manner policies: the one standing in solidarity with Palestine even though it was hosted by Jewish students.
According to a fourth year graduate Jewish student in the Sociology department, many of the discussed topics touched on “how the themes of the Sukkah relate to connection with ancestors and the displacement of Palestinians”, further incorporating open discussion and solidarity with people of all ethnicities and cultures.
A first-year student who was at the Gaza Solidarity Sukkah in Dickinson Court before the counter-protesters arrived at the scene recounted how it was both “quiet and peaceful”, with most people just “studying or conversing with each other”. They also participated in painting banners with olive branches in accordance with the traditions of the harvest festival. It was observed to be a “greatly respectful” and “honoring” event in which Jewish students celebrating their traditions were at the forefront.
However, solidarity with Palestine was a key aspect of this demonstration as well. Many of the students wore masks and keffiyahs and chanted statements such as “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and “Free, free Palestine.” Speeches were also made by both Jewish and Muslim students on the settler-colonialist identity of Zionism and how the celebration of Sukkot this year was tainted by the loss of life perpetrated by Israel not only over the past year but also its abuse of native Palestinian civilians since the Nakba in 1948.
Disturbingly, tensions began to rise as the day progressed, and the sukkah was threatened to be taken down by both the UCPD and a statement issued by Betar, a self-described national Zionist organization. At around 8:15 pm, about 30 pro-Israel counter-protesters arrived at Dickenson Court and began circling the sukkah, heckling the students and calling them derogatory names, even going too far to declare them “terrorists”. In a video recorded by a student in SJP (which was then posted on their Instagram), a bearded man wearing a plaid collared shirt was observed to tear the canvas of the sukkah aggressively before turning to the camera and sneering, “you faggot, take off your mask!”
A Jewish student shared how the mob chanted “free, free pagers” and “you’re all terrorists”, and how they even went so far as to accuse all the Jewish students present of “not being real Jews”.
“Believe it or not,” she said firmly when asked about the situation, “most of the antisemitism I face on campus comes from other Jews, as shown by how we were harassed for at least half an hour.” While the most physically violent acts were in the form of shoving and pushing, the event remains a harrowing experience for all involved.
”I haven’t felt more unsafe since the [attack on the] encampment last year,” another fourth-year student from Jewish Voices for Peace commented when asked about the incident, “and the worst part is, the police did nothing to help us. 70 UCPD officers surrounded the perimeter of Dickinson Court and watched the zionists harass us and destroy the structure completely before they gave their dispersal order.”
The UCPD did eventually intervene at around 8:22 pm, wearing riot gear and instructing protesters to disperse. They arrested one individual for failure to comply and were cheered on as they finished off the remnants of the sukkah by the pro-Israel counter-protesters, most of whom weren’t students and arrived from off-campus due to an event hosted by Ben Shapiro that day.
While the reasons cited by the police for the dismantlement of the protest ranged from it being “unauthorized”, “in a part of Dickenson court not approved by TPM policies” and “in violation of Los Angeles City Fire Code”, many students feel as though there are double standards in when the UCPD decides to get involved in protests. For example, one student mentioned that when asked about if a sukkah erected by Chabad, another Jewish group on campus, was also in violation of the fire code, UCLA Fire Marshal Ricardo Barboza failed to comment. “Of course,” the third-year then said dryly, “That sukkah wasn’t in solidarity with Palestine. It feels like the policies they say are meant to keep students safe only protect those whose political views they agree with.”
According to another third-year psychology major, students are feeling unsafe in expressing their opinions on campus due to police intervention in protests, especially when such protests are doing their level best to follow Time, Place, and Manner regulations. “Unless protests are violent or discriminating,” she said, “police shouldn’t get involved.”
In a similar vein, another interviewed student, a second-year applied mathematics major, accused the university of “taking the easy way out” by shutting down any protests that may cause controversy instead of protecting the students and their rights. “Students are paying for their place at university,” she added when asked about the involvement of counter protesters cheering on the UCPD tearing down the sukkah, “they have more right to protection by the police than outside parties.”
Furthermore, when asked, a second-year film and TV major announced the way the Time, Place, and Manner restrictions were being enforced as “overall unfair” for punishing students due to the actions of off-campus counter protesters engaging in violent behavior back in the spring. “The university’s mismanagement of the encampment [in the spring] shouldn’t mean we can’t exercise our rights,” she announced, “it’s time for them to start protecting their students instead of blaming them.”
UCLA’s Time, Place, and Manner policies are meant to protect students and their rights. However, students’ freedom of speech, as described in the Bill of Rights. Yet several feel this is under threat due to the biased enforcement of the TPM policies They argue that instead of protecting the rights of students, the UCPD often opts to shut down protests when counterprotesters from off-campus come in with violence. They make a clear parallel to the events of spring, where violence against students was allowed to go on for three hours without intervention; and in the end, the solution was to arrest students indiscriminately instead of protecting them.
The stain of the spring must lead to equity and the inclusion of student voices now more than ever instead of repressing them in the name of ease.