UCLA Students Announce Pro-Palestinian March on Anniversary of October 7 Attacks
A student group at UCLA plans a demonstration commemorating the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, drawing parallels to ongoing conflict and past campus protests.
Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA are organizing a pro-Palestinian march on the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and resulted in 251 hostages being taken. The demonstration is scheduled for Wednesday and aims to commemorate what the group describes as "three years of 'escalated genocide in Palestine'."
In promotional posts, the student group stated, "We will honor all our martyrs. They will not die in vain." They added, "Our primary purpose as students organizing in the west is to stand in solidarity with the people on the ground resisting by any means necessary." The group also expressed an intent "to channel the grief Palestinians have experienced for decades into a love for the movement and a clarity toward liberation."
The protest is planned for 12 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time at UCLA, a campus that has previously seen significant demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. In May 2024, clashes occurred between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters at the university. The U.S. Department of Justice has since sued UCLA, alleging the campus violated civil rights by being "deliberately indifferent" to the harassment of Jewish students during protests following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Earlier this year, UCLA students protested the university's decision to host an Israeli hostage for a speaker event, calling his appearance a "harmful representation of ongoing violence." In 2024, the campus experienced further unrest with brutal clashes between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters. Reports from that time described protesters clashing with sticks, tearing down metal barricades, and launching fireworks or hurling objects at each other. In a separate incident, UCLA students were detained after attempting to confront SWAT teams during campus protests.
Meanwhile, the Israeli student group Bruins for Israel is scheduled to hold a vigil to "remember and honor those we lost on October 7th."
The conflict's impact has been severe, with the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reporting approximately 74,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli retaliatory actions since October 7. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its figures but states around half of those killed were women and children. According to the ministry, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since a ceasefire deal was reached nearly a year ago, with seven Israeli soldiers killed in the same period. The population of Gaza, estimated at two million, largely resides in tent camps amid widespread destruction of cities. Around 90 percent of the population has been displaced, and more than half of the territory remains under Israeli military control despite ongoing strikes.