Violence erupted at the University of California, Los Angeles after pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators attacked a pro-Palestinian campus encampment. Bubbling tensions on the campus boiled over following the alleged breach of a “buffer zone” between the rival groups.

  • CaptainEffort@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    “Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help,” UC Divest at LA, a group involved in the encampment, said in a statement.

    Fucking disgusting

    • Ultragigagigantic@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I guess since the police have shown they are not willing to protect the people, the people must take the responsibility of their safety and security upon themselves.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      But we mustn’t have evil guns!! The police will protect us, I’m certain of it!

      Liberals will never, ever prevail against the fascists unless they pull their collective head out of their collective ass. News flash kids: The fascists are perfectly willing to use violence. And they know you are not.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        So let me make sure I understand your point: the pro-Palestinian protestors should have opened fire and killed the counter-protestors?

      • gregorum@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        News Flash: it’s possible to want sensible gun control laws AND meaningful police reform. Most of us are capable of holding more the one thought in our head, capable of setting more than one goal, and that doesn’t make us idiots or hypocrites. Validating their violence with more violence would make us hypocrites (and idiots) and is not the only means of achieving our goals.

        Edit: are you seriously suggesting that the protesters should be armed?! or is this just an attempt to muddy the waters by bringing up a conversation about gun control?

      • Crikeste@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Guns being present would have only resulted in many MANY deaths. That’s what you want?

  • birthday_attack@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    Jewish Federation Los Angeles meanwhile blamed the university’s chancellor for allowing “an environment to be created over many months that has made students feel unsafe”.

    The group demanded that the encampment be cleared and that UCLA meet leaders of the Jewish community.

    Fucking hell, this is such a callous response. In any other situation, the group representing the side that just had masked vigilantes attack peaceful demonstrators would make amends. “These people don’t represent our movement. We disavow them and what they stand for.” And so on.

    I see they’re taking a page from Israel’s book: refuse to apologize, defend unprovoked violence, and blame the victims on top of everything else.

    • DrDominate@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Your school’s protests against violence is making the school unsafe and therefore it’s the schools fault for the violence that falls upon it. That’s basically what they said.

      • mriormro@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Lol, it’s not my fault I’m beating you in the face. It’s the school’s fault I’m beating you in the face.

  • BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    All these police attacks on Pro-Palestine rallies are just bringing more attention that would have faded away.

    And the unprovoked violent attacks will cause more people to start to question the Israel war and the US support of it. People will start to wonder why supporting normal Palestine people is an idea to attack peaceful rallies and to take away the right to protest.

  • anticurrent@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    You wont hear mainstream media question why the police retracted a short moment before pro-Israeli thugs stormed in the encampment and attack the peaceful protesters, they came back in to only arrest the pro-palestine protesters. the establishment has payed to end the protests and establishment media are only parading the side of the story the have been paid for to.

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    The descriptions suggest the counter protesters are not students but people whipped up from outside the school by media.

    We know why students wouldn’t have jobs but who the fuck are these people attacking the kids?

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    You can have violence from the police, or you can have counter-protest violence. The police have proven time and again they will stand back and do nothing while the people protesting for any liberal idea (sad that the left seems to be the only one interested in things like peace, equality, and justice) get beaten by the right.

      • SquirtleHermit@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        True, but being anti genocide, anti colonialism, and anti war often are. Just so happens that these ideas and Palestinian statehood are simpatico at the moment.

    • borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 months ago

      I mean you could have protestor violence, but for some reason that’s just outright dismissed as lunacy.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Nonviolent protest works when the violence against the nonviolent becomes the impetus for change. That whole Jesus taking the beating to point out the problems in the system has a long history whether you believe in religion on not. Probably why we still talk about non-violent protesters like Gandhi or MLK, too.

            That’s not to say that violence doesn’t have its place, like the French Revolution. But that’s the shortcut. You forcefully break the system and rebuild it right now, rather than the long game of changing the system from within.

            Checking out the author, he seems much more French Revolution type (even though being an anarchist really puts him at odds with any resulting government), looks like he’s spent a bit of time in jail for some protests, none of them violent.

            • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Pacifism did not work for Ghandi or MLK. They were both murdered by conservatives and the problems they championed persisted long after their deaths.

              Conservatives see pacifism as a weakness to exploit and an invitation to attack. In fact, never in history has pacifism defeated conservatism. Action is always needed to cure an infection of conservatism.

            • borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              7 months ago

              While both only directly participated in non-violent protest themselves, Gandhi and MLK both participated in overarching struggles that were most definitely supported by a diversity of tactics, including violent protest.

              In my opinion the reason we still talk about these individuals today, without any focus given to the violent action also employed in support of their same cause, is because there is no material difference between complacency and exclusively non-violent protest in the ability of either to manifest actual change.

  • Therealgoodjanet@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Isn’t it interesting how Israel and pro-Israel people apply the exact same tactic?! Let’s attack innocent people. Whether it’s bombing innocent civilians or violently attacking peaceful protestors. It’s so telling. They are rotten to their core.

    • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      That’s what 80 years of cultural righteousness gets you. You start to think you can do no wrong.

      Cue up the “I learned it from you” meme because the USA showed Israel how it’s done.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        It’s just plain old Fascism.

        Etnic/nationalistic/cultural righteousness (aka nationalistic racism) is one of the foundational blocks of it along with violence.

        Unlike Europe, Israel hasn’t realy evolved in social and political terms from the kind of thinking so prevalent in the early XX century.

  • bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 months ago

    I think this is a good example of how vigilantes often work to support the state’s goals when it can’t legally/easily complete their goals.

    For every fascistic government still bound by laws, there will be fascists willing to ignore them to support it. See this. See the KKK carrying out lynchings on people who are barely escaping the grasp of the state. See the settlers illegally settling on Palestinian land to carry out the state’s goals of ethnic cleansing.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Hate is a powerful tool used by fascists to rally people to violence. Every one of these attackers should be arrested and thrown in prison.

      • bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 months ago

        Hate is a strong motivator but it uses up too much fuel and burns itself out. To see it only as hate is a bit reductionist. You can only use hate to motivate yourself for so long.

        Fear, envy, and uncertainty/fear of the future are much more longstanding motivators used to continue fascist creep.

        Regardless, fascists align themselves with the state. The police often can’t get away with crushing protesters without suffering bad PR, and risking strengthening popular support when images of police brutality evoke memories of past brutalities.

        Fascist vigilantes don’t care about PR, and they might get the support of the police (or they get the police’s non-support of their enemies) or even the government

      • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Vigilante porn is too useful as propaganda. Americans, especially, love the imagery of a tough person who steps up and does “the right thing,” where traditional tools of enforcement are weakened by corruption, incompetence, or policy. Doesn’t matter if it’s Dirty Harry, Batman, or some Christian Nationalist with a sharpened flagpole.

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      In situations like this, it’s common that the vigilantes are not actually rogue. They’re working together with the police. They might be friends, they might be off duty cops, and they could easily be messaging each other about what ought to be done when.

      I don’t have any specific evidence that this situation is as described above, but we know that many others have been and will be.

      • bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 months ago

        Yep.

        If we travel back in time a little bit you will find obvious examples, such as the police working directly with the klan (specifically the 2nd klan) and instances of sherrifs deputizing people to allow them to carry out extreme violence against bipoc

  • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    “Counter-protesters”?

    This is an example of a news organization trying so hard to be neutral that they end up taking a side.

    • Eol@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      Fuck Granite! Fuck Cement! Fuck Wood! Fuck All Counters!

      All Counters Are Bad!

    • gregorum@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      That’s the term. They were counter-protesting the pro-Palestinian protesters. Sorry, what’s the problem?

      • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        “Fireworks and tear gas flew through the night sky as masked counter-protesters attempted to tear down barricades, and struck campers with sticks and bats.”

        That’s counter protesting in your world?

        • gregorum@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          As I said in another comment:

          If you had read past “counter-protesters”, it goes on to say, “…attack pro-Palestinian camp”

          “Counter-protester” describes who they were not what they were doing. That’s what the word “attack” is for. If you read the article it contains even more details.

          • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I think people are suggesting the “counter protesters” aren’t “protesting” anything, they’re just straight up a mob attacking kids.

            • gregorum@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              I understand that. That’s why I explained what the words mean.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    Police Prevent Crime! I mean Police Protect us from Crime! I mean Police Solve Crimes! I mean