University of California Bans Gaza Solidarity Encampments and Face Masks

The school season is starting again soon.

And that means more protests for Palestine.

Except it doesn’t mean that, because that is illegal.

The Guardian:

The president of the University of California has announced that the system would enforce bans on encampments as well as the use of masks to “conceal identity” in guidance that comes as schools across the US are planning for protests in support of Gaza similar to those that roiled campuses across the country.

Michael V Drake, the president of the 10-campus university system, said in a statement on Monday that the UC was taking steps to “ensure a safe, inclusive campus climate that fosters a free exchange of ideas”.

Unless the idea is “Jews should stop murdering children.”

That’s one idea that is not allowed.

Also, there are several other ideas that are not allowed, all of them somehow related to the Jews. Because you know. God’s chosen ones and so on. You can’t talk about them or it’s Hitler again.

“Freedom to express diverse viewpoints is fundamental to the mission of the University, and lawful protests play a pivotal role in that process,” Drake wrote. “While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not.”

California highway patrol officers at a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA’s campus on 1 May 2024.

The announcement comes as students, too, have been planning for the fall semester. At UCLA, student organizers with the Palestine Solidarity Coalition (a network that emerged from the school’s spring encampment and includes Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and UC Divest) spent their summer holding workshops, called the People’s University for a Liberated Palestine. As the new academic year begins, “students are also getting organized to spread education about divestment”, said Marie Salem, a PhD student and media liaison for the coalition.

It will be interesting to see if these protests can get some energy going again.

There is still a lot of anti-genocide sentiment, even though we’ve moved on from it being the “current thing.”

Remember when the brave cops defended who they are in a democracy?