UCLA Professors Demand Amnesty for Pro-Palestine Protesters

Members of University of California faculty and staff have been calling on Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), to resign over the university's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

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"We will not stand by as our students are assaulted and silenced. We remain committed to protecting our students' safety and their right to protest, assemble, and speak freely," said the group in an online petition.

A total of 895 people from the 10-campus public university system have signed the petition as of Thursday night. Of them, 642 are from UCLA.

They demand that UCLA recommend all legal charges be dropped and grant full amnesty to all students, staff and faculty who were involved in the encampment and peaceful protest.

"Following the violent and aggressive police sweep of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on May 2, 2024, resulting in more than 200 students, faculty, and staff arrested while peacefully protesting, it has become obvious that Block has failed our university," said the petition.

They also demand that UCLA issue a report within 30 days to fully disclose all investments so that students may understand how the university prioritizes their finances, and call on UCLA to divest from all military weapons production companies and supporting systems.

Earlier this week, the UCLA Academic Senate, which represents the university's faculty, said that "recent events that transpired on our campus deeply dismayed and disappointed many faculty, staff, students and alumni."

The UCLA Academic Senate will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to consider a no-confidence resolution and a censure resolution of Block, who has been chancellor of UCLA since 2007.

On Tuesday night, UCLA's Undergraduate Students Association Council also passed a resolution calling for the resignation of Block if he does not meet the demands of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment, according to Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.