Thousands of faculty, students and community members rallied Monday afternoon in Dickson Plaza, calling for unified support for the Palestine solidarity encampment, which has entered its fifth day.

The dual student and faculty rallies – led by Faculty for Justice in Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA – began at noon in front of Bunche Hall. Hundreds of faculty – holding signs with slogans such as “Let Gaza live” and “FJP is proud of SJP”– entered the encampment, while hundreds more students forced their way into Royce Hall through the back doors and filed out from the front, lining up under the building’s arches to listen to faculty and student speeches.

Protesters then marched down Janss Steps to Bruin Plaza, where they heard speeches from organizers and shouted chants such as, “If we don’t get it, shut it down” and “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now!” 

Protesters want the focus to remain on what is happening in the Gaza Strip, despite the significant media attention on encampments at universities across the country, said Vincent Doehr, a political science doctoral student and encampment media liaison. 

“We hope that the world’s eyes stay trained on Gaza because a lot of press coverage has stopped focusing on the injustice Israel’s committed against Palestinians there,” he said. 

Another media liaison for the encampment, who did not give their name, said they thought the turnout at the rally demonstrated that the campus community is invested in the demands of the encampment. They added that they believe the UC’s investments make it complicit in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli siege has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians since Hamas’ attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Associated Press. 

Speakers at the rally stood in front of the Royce Hall steps and called for the UC’s financial and academic divestment from Israel, as well as for the UCLA community to unite to pressure the UC – with some referencing the University’s lengthy history of student protests against war and apartheid.

[Related: Examining parallels to 1985 student calls for divestment from South Africa]

Protesters graffitied the building’s columns and walls with statements such as “Israel = baby killers” and “Blood is on your (the UC’s) hands.”

A student protester, who attended the solidarity rally but did not give their name, said they decided to attend to support the encampment and show that the student body supports divestment from companies associated with the Israeli military. 

“I want to support my friends whose families have been murdered and massacred in Gaza. I want to show my support for the Palestinian students here at UCLA,” they said. “I want to show the UC Regents that this is unacceptable.” 

Emma Krul, a fourth-year English student, added that she decided to join the walkout after seeing the protesters march across campus. She said she believes the protest was successful in capturing the attention of university administrators because of its large turnout. 

Meghna Nair, a second-year public affairs student who also attended the event, said while she is not the most knowledgeable on the history of Israel and Palestine, she believes there is an ongoing genocide in Gaza and that there needs to be a ceasefire.

“Innocent people shouldn’t be dying,” Nair said. “I don’t think anyone has a mandate on what is right. I think everyone has their own definition of what is right, and I’m just doing what I think is right.”

The simultaneous FJP protest also drew hundreds of faculty, with some dressed in their doctoral regalia to demonstrate their professorship as they marched down Portola Plaza. Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, an associate professor of Chicana/o studies, said he was excited to see students exercising their right to protest. 

“We teach our students to be critical and to take arguments seriously, and to act on them in positive, constitutionally protected ways, and make clear demands,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said. “This is an incredible learning experience for students to be involved in events like this and to learn the positive value of peaceful protest, and also being very mindful of resisting provocations to any type of violence.” 

Participants in the encampment appreciated the contributions made by faculty members to ensure encampment members’ safety, Doehr said. 

The encampment, which started Thursday morning, was met with a significant number of counter-protesters over the weekend. Thousands of people converged on the Dickson Plaza lawn Sunday morning, including one group of counter-protesters led by the Israeli American Council’s Los Angeles branch.

[Related: Protesters, counter-protesters clash as they converge upon UCLA encampment]

Nathan, an organizer of a pro-Israel counter-protest that raised more than $82,000 on GoFundMe, said his group’s demonstrations were aimed at educating people about the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Although the counter-protest originally received a permit from the university to use loudspeakers and a large screen, the equipment remained, playing music and videos overnight and on Monday morning without permission. 

“The big screen on the east lawn of Royce Quad is not permitted, and there are no current plans to remove it,” said UCLA spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez in a written statement. 

According to a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, counter-protesters also allegedly released mice into the encampment early Monday morning. The Daily Bruin was unable to verify those allegations, and a media representative from the UC Divest Coalition at UCLA said they did not have any specific information about the claims. 

Doehr said pro-Israel counter-protesters have threatened and harassed students, including by using racist and misogynistic remarks – some of which Daily Bruin reporters have witnessed. Counter-protesters have also used similarly discriminatory language when addressing a Daily Bruin reporter, calling them a sexist slur and threatening them early Sunday morning. 

While the protests have largely been peaceful, a protester who appeared to be supporting Palestine brandished a taser on Monday afternoon, and they were escorted away from Dickson Plaza by student affairs staff while shouting about their Instagram account. 

Protesters within the encampment plan to remain outside Royce Hall, Doehr said. 

“Our plan is to keep up the pressure until the demands are met,” he said. “We’re going to be here in one form or another until the UC divests and until there’s justice in Palestine.” 

Contributing reports by Alexandra Crosnoe, Catherine Hamilton, Sam Mulick, Benjamin Royer, Matthew Royer, Abigail Siatkowski, Sharla Steinman, Yashila Suresh and Patrick Woodham, Daily Bruin staff.