Students at the University of California Berkeley set up tents on the steps of a campus building and called for the college to divest from Israel, in the latest instance of pro-Palestinian encampments set up at schools across the country.
Students can be seen holding signs that say "revolution" and "divest now" written in the red, green and black colors of the Palestinian flag.
"Gaza, Gaza" don't you cry," the students chanted. "Palestine will never die."
In addition to calling for divestment from Israel, the activists also want the university to participate in an academic boycott of Israel, implement policies to protect Palestinian students and "call for an immediate end to Israel's genocidal campaign and violence in Gaza," a coalition of student groups shared on social media.
In spite of the protests, however, university officials have said the college has no plans to change its investment strategies.
"With three weeks left in the semester, Berkeley is prioritizing students' academic interests," spokesperson Dan Mogulof told SFGate. "We will take the steps necessary to ensure the protest does not disrupt the university's operations."
After an initial encampment was established at Columbia University, further demonstrations have emerged at college campuses across the country. The Columbia protests led to the arrests of more than 100 students, while Harvard has locked down portions of its campus.
The internal politics of the encampments have been subject to intense scrutiny. Many Jewish students have participated in the pro-Palestinian activism - with dozens of protestors holding Passover Seders inside the encampments. Others, however, allege that the protests have led to a surge of campus antisemitism.
President Joe Biden released a statement Sunday calling for an end to antisemitic violence and harassment.
"[Antisemitism] has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country," Biden wrote.
"My Administration will continue to speak out and aggressively implement the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, putting the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community."
-With reporting from TMX.
