UCSF Police Swiftly Shut Down Pro-Palestinian Tent Encampment

It took mere hours for UCSF police to shut down a protest and tent encampment on Monday that was set up on the Parnassus campus to condemn Israel’s war on Gaza. 

In an Instagram video posted by protest organizers UCSF 4 Palestine, UCSF police officers can be seen calmly dispersing protestors. One is seen taking a protestor out of a tent and telling them they are being detained “for a 148,” referring to the penal code making it a crime to resist peace officers who are performing their official duties.

The UCSF 4 Palestine Instagram post stated that protestors were told they all needed to wear UCSF IDs, then they were told they were breaking fire code by having banners on the buildings. 

“To avoid escalation, we moved our banners off the buildings and then UCSF admin came out with cops to tear down and take one of our banners,” the post stated. “We stand committed in our demands and are not afraid of the repression UCSF is already exhibiting.”

Calling itself UCSF Palestine Solidarity Encampment, the protest gathered students, faculty, staff, and community members, and was the first of its kind at a major academic medical institution in the United States, according to a joint Instagram post by Union Nurses for Palestine and UCSF 4 Palestine. 

“We condemn Israel and its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and condemn the absence of a moral and ethical response from the US government, from the University of California, and from the leadership of UCSF, who have remained silent in the face of Palestinian physicians, nurses, and health care workers being murdered by Israel,” states the post. “We refuse to remain silent in the face of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

The action joined over 200 encampments across the United States condemning violence against Palestinians in Gaza by Israel and support from the Biden administration. 

Since October 7, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel with U.S. made bombs and technology, the majority being children and women.

“UCSF Palestine Solidarity Encampment stands in the proud tradition of UCSF Pride values where marginalized communities are valued, protected, and respected,” states the joint Instagram post. 

“There is no Palestinian exception to our Pride values. We stand proudly with our brothers, sisters, and siblings in the LGBTQ+, API, Latino, SWANA, Indigenous, Black, and Disabled communities who condemn violence and oppression against marginalized peoples, including Palestinians – and they stand with us.”