Written anonymously and shared with permission.
On the night of April 30 at UCLA, members of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment successfully defended our camp from a mob of fascists who viciously attacked us with fireworks, bear mace, and improvised projectile and melee weapons. Last night, May 1st, we held off hundreds of police officers for over three hours, at one point ousting ~40 officers from the camp, while they used rubber bul- lets, batons, flash bangs, and physical force to dismantle our barricades. Neither of these feats came easily. Many of us suffered severe injuries and psychological trauma, and ultimately we lost the camp (for now). However, the authors of this piece are fiercely proud of our comrades for what we have achieved and we firmly believe that we can win against police and fascist raids. Here’s how.
This piece was written by a collective of UCLA protestors, including both students and non-students. We do not repre- sent the views of the encampment leadership.
If you are reading this and are connected to an encamp- ment, we urge you to PRINT a fuckton of copies and distribute them! Also, make your own guide and send it out! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!
HOW WE GOT THIS FAR, AND WHERE WE COULD IMPROVE TAKING INITIATIVE
The lifeblood of our encampment has been the act of seeing what needs to be done and doing it, without waiting for permission or instructions. We could not have built such outstanding supporting services for ourselves, nor could we have addressed evolving violent situations, otherwise. Grab some people and get it done! Last night, we had moments of group hesitation that took us backward. More below.
NUMBERS AND RESOURCES
The support of our LA community was essential and immense. However, we could always use more, especially last night. As expressed by our comrades at Cal Poly Humboldt, “blurring the line between student and non-student” was crucial to getting the numbers we need. Also crucial, which we seem to have neglected, is calling on existing radical organizations in the area to mobilize support. Again, take initiative if you have connects!
BARRICADES
We initially surrounded the camp with wood, and over the first two days Campus Security installed metal bike-lock barricades once Zionists immediately began instigating violence. They did us a huge favor here. We fastened them together and attached large plywood boards and other wood using drills, ropes, and zip ties. This barricade, along with canopies and umbrellas, protected us from the Zionists. Barricades where set up at choke points naturally allowing the shortest possible length of barricade to defend any one direction allowing for more efficient use of limited materi- als.
Ultimately the cops were able to disassemble our barricades by force. We could have used corrugated metal sheets as barricades. This idea came up but was never acted upon, and it could have made a huge difference.
GEAR UP
Shields, helmets, goggles, gloves, gas masks. They make us stronger and braver. One piece of gear that would have helped immensely, perhaps literally could have made the difference alone, is fire extinguishers filled with paint.
SURROUND THE COPS
This made the difference in getting the 40 cops out of the encampment early on. A small but dedicated group of people outside the encampment pushed on them from the back which made them retreat out. Most police are trained to make a retreat when surrounded. They can’t make arrests if they have no where to take arrestees. Close them in but be ready to let them out if the situation demands, they will let you know when they want to retreat. We potentially could have tried this later in the night when the cops came in on the east side, though it is unclear if we would have had the required numbers of “down” people.
SECURITY CULTURE
The abilities of the state to repress us are at unprecedented levels, and they are escalating that. The House voted yes- terday to criminalize opposition of Israel and Biden called for a harsher crackdown this morning. This is important to keep in mind but don’t be paranoid. Bloc up and stay vigilant. Just because you aren’t arrested at a protest doesnt mean that the repression can’t come later. Be proactive. We were good about using Signal, but we never really discussed security culture and tons of people were posting about be- ing at the protests on Instagram.
ON PEACE POLICING AND LEADERSHIP
We want to note: Cops were in the camp before CHP even breached the bar- rier. Throughout the night, calls for avoiding escalation with po- lice and chants for “peaceful protests” were constant. Any- one attempting to throw projectiles at police, chant ACAB, shit talk to riot cops, etc. were met with extreme hostility from certain others inside the camp, who cited “not wanting to provoke cops” as the reasoning. Cops fucked them up anyways, of course. We chant “We keep us safe” but we don’t even know what that means ap- parently. When the cops first breached the camp, peace police in yellow vests claiming to be security discouraged students on the outside of the encampment from backing up those of us inside, leaving us and our comrades open to extreme bru- talization. They even put up barriers to keep the crowd from moving up. After the smaller group of us moved the barricades and ket- tled the kkkops out of our encampment, the kkkops turned their rubber bullets onto the nonviolent group as they fled and fired into the crowd. They dont give a fuck if you are calling for non-violence. This only makes it easier for them to fuck you up while you sit back and take it. We are done with optics. The media has already decided to demonize us. We need to force the hands of the unversities. We need them and the Zionists to be afraid of our power, and we don’t do that by letting ourselves get brutalized. When are we going to talk about proactively attacking? Fuck self defense. Attack first! Make them afraid of us. We want to be clear: People calling for non-violence while we are actively being brutalized ARE NOT ON OUR SIDE. People with vests aren’t leaders. They bought that shit at home depot and so could you.
NO LEADERS! ESCALATE!
TELL PEACE POLICE TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO FOR IT WITH YOUR CREW!
For Gaza and the Palestinian people!
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