RefineLA and Forward hosted a pop-up thrift market Thursday on the Sunset Village Plaza lawn to benefit Palestine.

The market – which included vendors selling art, secondhand clothing, jewelry and baked goods – came after the UC Divest Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA created the Palestine solidarity encampment in Dickson Plaza on April 25 to demand that the UC divest from companies associated with the Israeli military. The encampment was later attacked by counter-protesters and was disbanded by law enforcement May 2.

All proceeds from the market will go to mutual aid for Gaza, said Mindy Luo, the president of RefineLA, a sustainable fashion club on campus. Luo, a third-year art history and cognitive science student added that members of her club were motivated to join the fundraiser after seeing the encampment and the Israeli military’s recent bombing and invasion of the Palestinian city of Rafah.

“Everyone has been really generous and really happy to support,” she said. “We should focus on … how we can use our own strengths to help the cause.”

In a written statement to the Daily Bruin, a spokesperson for RefineLA said the group raised $2,100 from the market and is splitting the sum equally between Salam and Solidarity, an organization providing aid throughout the Gaza Strip, and Fadi AbuTaqiya, who is raising money to evacuate his family from the war-torn region.

Valentini Muench Mavridoglou, a third-year biology student, said she had previously participated in pro-Palestine protests on campus and came to buy clothes at the market to show her support monetarily. She added that if mutual aid is allowed into the Gaza Strip, she hopes it will bring food, water and other necessary resources to the area.

Angelina Eng, a third-year psychology student, said she sold her clothes at the flea market as part of Forward, a fashion and arts magazine on campus. The thrift market gave people an opportunity to use their passions in fashion, baking and art to help people in the Gaza Strip when it is otherwise hard to feel helpful, she added.

“This is tangible monetary support for food, water, medical aid supplies that are very scarce,” she said.

Karen Park, another vendor at the market, said the turnout was high, with people coming as early as 10:30 a.m. to buy items. Others came to donate more clothes after hearing about the event on social media, and someone donated money without even purchasing an item, added Park, a third-year anthropology student.

“This was a really good way to bring people together at more of a smaller level,” Park said. “It gave space to people who wanted to contribute in some way.”