Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israel Demonstrators Clash at University of California

WASHINGTON – Pro-demonstrators Palestine and pro-Israel clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as demonstrations over the war in Gaza continued on US campuses.

Nationwide demonstrations – which have seen hundreds of arrests – showed no signs of letting up over the weekend.

At UCLA, a “physical altercation occurred” after a barrier separating the two sides was breached.

The White House has insisted that demonstrations must remain peaceful.

“The US government respects the rights of protesters demonstrating against the Israel-Gaza war,” a National Security Council spokesperson told ABC.

But it reiterated its condemnation of the incidents of antisemitism that have been reported. “All the hate speech and threats of violence out there,” John Kirby told the ABC on Sunday.

At UCLA, pro-Palestinian groups have grown in size in recent days, as have pro-Israel counter-protest groups.

The Israel American Council (IAC) organized a counter protest. They recently said they had “deep concerns” about antisemitism reported elsewhere, including at Columbia University.

Many pro-Palestinian protesters have sought to distance themselves from antisemitic incidents and in some cases have blamed outside agitators.

The two groups at UCLA remained peaceful until Sunday, Reuters news agency reported, when campus police with batons separated them as they pushed and shoved and exchanged blows.