From the Liveblog of
Saturday, May 4, 2024
New York Times investigative feature on UCLA clashes says pro-Israel counterprotesters provoked violence
The New York Times publishes an investigative feature on clashes at an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian encampment at the UCLA campus earlier this week, charging that pro-Israel counterprotesters provoked the violent outburst.
“Except for a brief attempt to capture a loudspeaker used by counterprotesters, and water bottles being tossed out of the encampment, none of the videos analyzed by The Times show any clear instance of encampment protesters initiating confrontations with counterprotesters beyond defending the barricades,” the report states.
Accompanied by a detailed timeline of the Tuesday clashes, the report says the pro-Israel counterprotesters pulled down parts of the barricade around the encampment and sprayed chemicals at pro-Palestinian protesters.
Videos and photos analyzed in the interactive report also show counterprotesters using makeshift weapons such as sticks, traffic cones and wooden boards to attack people inside the protest encampment.
Other videos show the pro-Israel activists, many dressed in black with white masks, physically attacking the perimeter of the school’s anti-Israel encampment.
Police arrived at UCLA two hours after the clashes began, according to the report, but did not intervene and disperse the counterprotesters for over an hour.
The fighting took place after several days of rising friction between demonstrators protesting Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and counterprotesters amid a wave of anti-Israel protests on university campuses around the US.
