Violence broke out Wednesday evening at an encampment at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus after days of peaceful assembly in response to the Israel-Hamas war, a contrast to arrests and turmoil at other American schools.
According to UC Berkeley police, just before 7 p.m., a tussle occurred between two opposing groups and one group attempted to take a flag of the other, resulting in injuries to at least two people. Medical personnel were called to the scene.
UC police also said additional injuries were reported.
Video footage showed a small group of people around an Israeli flag. Someone in that group, who asked to remain anonymous, said a small group approached them and a confrontation began. Someone then grabbed the Israeli flag and a person holding the flag was hit.
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On Thursday, it was quiet at the encampment, with some people saying those responsible for the confrontation were not part of their demonstration.
"We had one person who I have never seen at the camp, none of us knew, who disappeared immediately after," student Hamza Mahmoud said. "We’re not sure who this person is who just grabbed a flag."
A member of the UC Berkeley Divest Coalition reiterated the same point, saying the person who grabbed the flag isn’t part of the camp.
"We set a wall around them to ensure that nobody can try to frame this against us in any way, and we were the ones who pulled back this person who tried to grab the flag," Mahmoud said.
The Berkeley student camp-in was called by a coalition of groups, including the Black Student Union, the Jewish Voice for Peace at UC Berkeley and the Indigenous Graduate Student Association.
In an online statement, they are demanding: "an immediate end to the Zionist colonization of Arab lands, including the genocidal siege of Gaza; full freedom and equality for Palestinians, from the river to the sea; and the right of return for Palestinian refugees to their homes and properties."
They are also asking UC to boycott, divest and sanction "from all companies profiting from the colonization of Palestine."
