The University of California, San Diego chancellor has called on student protesters who have set up tents on campus to immediately disperse.
Pradeep Khosla’s office released a statement Sunday referring to the protest as an “illegal encampment,” and claiming that the tents set up on Library Walk pose “an unacceptable safety and security hazard on campus.”
“The violation of law and campus policy represented by this encampment, however, is not a peaceful protest. It has become dangerous,” added the statement from the chancellor’s office, adding that the tents were possibly a fire hazard, but making no mention of any violence.
Students organized the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on campus last week as part of a nationwide student movement to show support for Palestinians amid a spiking death toll in Israel’s war against Hamas.
The camp was organized by a coalition of groups, which include the UCSDivest Coalition, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and Students for Justice in Palestine.
The coalition posted a statement to Instagram asking that students not be punished for peaceful protest. They are also demanding that the university “permanently sever all institutional ties to Israel and other entities that render our university complicit in the Gaza genocide, including research partnerships with the Israel Defense Ministry, U.S. Department of Defense, and private defense contractors.”
The call came on the same day that the University of California’s president announced an “organizational change” establishing an Office of Campus Safety at UCLA.
Police have arrested nearly 2,500 campus protesters so far nationwide.