BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) — A “Free Palestine” encampment continues to grow in size at the UC Berkeley campus. Last week, there were 50 tents on the steps of Sproul Plaza. On Monday, it was up to 150. By Tuesday afternoon 175 tents were pitched – a camp which now extends onto the lawns on the sides of the building.
Walking through Sather Gate is now unimpeded. Overall, the UCs have taken a firm stance opposing calls a for boycott against Israel-based academic programs or divestment from firms doing business with Israel.
At UC Berkeley, a small area of graffiti materialized at the corner of Sproul. Cal says they’re investigating. In a formal statement, the university said, “To date, there has been no disruption of University operations. We will continue to try to respond per policy to any and all claims of illegal conduct for harassment and/or discrimination.”
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Some Jewish students say they’ve been told to request chaperones if they’re worried about walking on campus.
Hannah Schlacter, a second-year graduate student at the Haas School of Business said, “As a Jewish student, when I see two other Jewish graduate students harassed when they entered that encampment and another that was punched and followed to the police station – that tells me that the university is not enforcing their policy around student code of conduct, around what safe protesting is and there’s not going to be any consequences for students who perpetuate such Jew hate at Berkeley.”
A spokesperson for the camp said they do not feel the need to talk to media on Tuesday. They will however, be holding future press conferences.
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This is the last week of classes at Cal. Next week is a study week before final exams and graduation. Students walked past the camp peacefully.
A freshman at Cal expressed some concern. She said, “It’s gonna suck if graduation doesn’t go through but they’re standing up for a good reason.”
One sophomore said, “I just try and ignore it, just to go to class and not worry about it.”
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