The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) suspended two pro-Palestine groups after they threatened a pro-Israel member of the University of California Board of Regents.
Chancellor Julio Frenk sent a campuswide email announcing the suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine. The groups protested outside of UC Regent Jay Sures’ home, leaving red handprints on his garage door and caution tape in his front yard, the Daily Bruin reported.
“Whenever an act of violence is directed against any member of the university community, UCLA will not turn a blind eye,” a UCLA spokesperson told the outlet. “This is true no matter what group you are a member of — or which identities you hold. There is no place for violence in our Bruin community.”
“Any act of violence undermines the foundation of our university,” Frenk said. “As your chancellor, I can commit to you that whenever an act of violence is directed against any member of the university community, UCLA will not turn a blind eye.”
Frenk explained that the Office of Student Conduct is conducting an administrative review of the groups’ actions.
The student groups claimed on Instagram that Sures is “one of the unelected officials responsible for protecting UC investments in genocide and weapons manufacturing.”
Similarly, Columbia University students and New York City activists recently organized a teach-in focusing on the First Intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation that began in 1987. In 2024, the university students set up a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” demanding that the university cut ties with Israel and companies that supply weapons to its military.
