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Pro-Palestine protesters erect encampment at UC Davis amid nationwide protests over war

Ishani Desai, The Sacramento Bee on

Published in News & Features

DAVIS, Calif. — A group of pro-Palestine protesters erected an encampment Monday at UC Davis amid a nationwide chorus of protesters on campuses calling on universities to divest from Israel amid the war in Gaza.

The group, calling itself the Davis Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine, brought tents to Memorial Quad, said university spokesman James Nash. UC Davis joins at least 27 schools in which protests have erupted in recent weeks, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis, some of which have turned violent, others resulting in police action resulting in arrests.

The group sent UC Davis leadership a letter echoing similar sentiments of many pro-Palestine protesters at college campuses. The group could not be reached for comment.

The group seeks for UC Davis to “disclose & divest” while calling for a “total academic & cultural boycott.” The demands also seek the university to “invest in Palestine, Arab American and ethnic studies”; offer full amnesty, promise to respect free speech and not repress protesters; and seek Chancellor Gary May to resign from the board of directors of defense contract Leidos or resign from his university post, according to a social media post. He has served as a director for the Virginia-based firm — which provides engineering and technical services in the aerospace, defense, health care and IT industries — since 2015.

 

Nash, a university spokesman, said in an email that the university is actively monitoring the situation.

Sacramento State has watched its encampment grow after it began protesting last week. President Luke Wood gave protesters until Wednesday to vacate their encampment at the library quad, which has remained peaceful. He noted the deadline could be extended if the protesters continue to abide by university policies.

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