Encampment: Student group wants school to sever financial ties to Israel over Gaza war.

Pro-Palestinian protesters against the war in Gaza take part in a rally Monday at UC Irvine, where they set up an encampment with tents.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are seen at the encampment they set up at UC Irvine on Monday. The gathering was peaceful. PHOTOS BY MINDY SCHAUER — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER.

By MICHAEL SLATEN | SCNG

A group of students at UC Irvine stepped up efforts to support the Palestinian people Monday, setting up a small tent encampment that they hope to keep in place until the school severs any financial ties with Israel.

In all, students were planning to sleep in about 20 tents Monday evening, saying they hoped a visible encampment would add more pressure on school officials than what they’ve been able to generate during several days of traditional protests. Protesters have said they believe financial pressure on Israel might hasten an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

“We are going to stay until the university addresses our demands,” said Em Wang, a senior English major and a leader of the protest.

“We are here to demand divestment.”

Later in the evening, school officials and students said they were in conversations about the encampment, but those talks were ongoing.

The school, in a statement issued earlier in the day, did not say if it would ask the students to leave.

“UC Irvine respects the rights of any students to engage in free speech and expression including lawful protest,” UCI said. “The safety of all members of the campus community is always a top priority, and we continue to monitor and evaluate the situation to ensure that we are able to continue to provide a safe and secure learning environment.”

While protests related to the Israel-Hamas War have touched roughly two dozen campuses nationally over the past two weeks, the issue of tent encampments has become a hot button in recent days.

At UCLA, and some other public schools in California, tents have been permitted, though barricades have been set up, in part, to maintain safety for non-protesters and others on campus.

But a similar face-off at the University of Texas on Monday ended with tents being taken down and 40 protester arrested.

At UCI, the protests have drawn many supporters of Palestinians and others who are against the carnage but not necessarily backing the political ideals of either side. One group that’s not specifically pro-Palestinian, Jewish Voice for Peace, has pushed for an end to the carnage. So far, the UCI demonstrations have been verbal, with no arrests and no reports of violence.

But tension has been higher at some other schools.

At USC, at least 90 people have been arrested in recent days and the school administration has cancelled graduation events in the hope of staving off potential violence. And at campuses as diverse as New York’s Columbia University and Northeastern University in Boston, demonstrations have led to some violent clashes, some involving backers of different sides in the conflict and some involving protesters and the police. In all, more than 1,000 people have been arrested since the first protests took place at Columbia on April 18.

This is in keeping with anger rising around the world.

Since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 766 civilians and 373 security personnel, as well as taking an estimated 253 people hostage, Israel’s military response against militants and civilians in the densely populated Gaza Strip has raised an international outcry. At least 34,000 Palestinians, most civilians, have been killed in the battle. And conditions in Gaza have become dire, with food, clean water and medical care in short supply.

Though violence remains distant, a hint of it was visible Monday at UCI.

After protesters set up tents early in the day at a greenbelt outside the Physical Sciences building, they began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans and preparing to stay for some time.

By midday, about 30 Orange County sheriff’s deputies gathered in a parking area near the encampment and appeared to be preparing a response if protests grew unruly. Some deputies were seen carrying batons and face masks.

Protest organizers responded for much of the afternoon by passing out pamphlets to students, telling them what to do if arrests were made. Protesters also took down the names of people entering the encampment area.

Inside the camp, protestors prayed and made signs with messages such as “UC divest from genocide,” “Welcome to People’s University,” and “Death to imperialism.” Supporters brought in food and water to the group and an Instagram account associated with the demonstration called off further donations for the day.

But the rising tension didn’t lead to conflict. By late afternoon, most deputies had left the scene, though a few police officers from Irvine and nearby cities, including Westminster and Newport Beach, and from UCI, remained on hand.

Earlier in the day, after hearing that the school might ask them to leave, students called on UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman’s office to “politely and firmly demand” a stop to what they termed a “heavy-handed” plan. They also asked that students who have protested not be punished, though it’s not clear that they’ve been under any threat from the university.

It’s also unclear how long the encampment might stay. “We want to stand our ground,” Wang said.

Lulu Hammad, a community organizer and co-founder of Yalla Indivisible, said many of the students come from communities affected by the Israel-Hamas war.

“It’s very important for us as a community to be there for our students,” Hammad said.

Irvine Mayor Farrah N. Khan issued a statement saying she wouldn’t tolerate any violation of students’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest.

The emergence of tents on campus, and the extra police presence, escalated a demonstration that began last week. On Friday, hundreds of students demonstrated at UCI, asking for the school to cut its financial ties with Israel.

The University of California system in a Friday statement said it opposed calls for divestment from Israel.