(LOS ANGELES, CA – 4/25/2025) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), in partnership with the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action, Inkerij, Palestinian Christians for Justice, and Kleiman/Rajaram today held a press conference to address the failure of elected officials and public institutions to hold accountable the perpetrators of violence against pro-Palestinian activists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)’s anti-genocide encampment last spring.
WATCH: CAIR-LA Press Conference Demanding Accountability for Assault on Pro-Palestinian Protesters at UCLA
On April 30, 2024, a group of pro-Israel extremists entered the UCLA campus and violently attacked peaceful protesters in the encampment for hours, injuring several people. The assailants shot fireworks at the protesters, attacked them with chemical weapons, metal rods, poles, and boards, engaged in psychological warfare, and attempted to tear down the encampment—all while the UCLA police department and private security companies stood by and watched.
Last month, CAIR California, along with local civil rights attorneys and leading personal injury firms, filed a lawsuit against UCLA, three law enforcement agencies, and several individuals who were involved in the violence against student protesters.
During the press conference, CAIR-LA and its partners also addressed the ongoing crackdown on student speech and activism at UCLA, as well as the failure of university leadership to take actionable steps to protect its Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students, and the diverse group of student protesters calling for an end to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In a statement, MPAC Vice President of Operations and Administration Rebecca Husaini said:
“History will remember not just what happened on April 30, but how our institutions responded. If UCLA and the City of Los Angeles fail to act, they will be remembered as having turned a blind eye to violence, to the injustices inflicted on our students, and to the erosion of free speech. That is not the legacy we should allow to stand. We must choose accountability over silence and justice over complicity.”
In a statement, CAIR-LA Legal Director Amr Shabaik, Esq., said:
“What message does it send when those who engage in coordinated violence are protected while students and community members who peacefully protest injustice and genocide face disciplinary threats, arrests, and intimidation? … The silence from those in power speaks volumes, but we will not be silent. We will protect each other and continue to demand truth, accountability, and justice—for our students, for our communities, and for Palestinians.”
In a statement, JVP Action Board Chair Estee Chandler said:
“Los Angeles city officials are aiding and uplifting the federal government’s attack on our Constitutional rights with false accusations of antisemitism as a pretext to punish and persecute a political viewpoint that isn’t in alignment with their own, or that of their donors … This could not be more dangerous and pretending that it is being done in the name of Jewish safety is not just appalling, it is antisemitic.”
In a statement, Palestinian American Hedab Tarifi said:
“Palestinian Americans, Muslims, Arabs, and pro-Palestinians have all felt marginalized for their views and position in calling [for] an end to the slaughtering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. As if calling to save lives is a crime and not a moral, ethical, and religious duty of all humans… For the city attorney and her office to take a political stance on international events, a globally disputed occupation, and side with Israel sends a message to the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian citizens of Los Angeles that they do not matter.”
In a statement, Palestinian Christians for Justice representative Randa Sweiss said:
“This city cannot claim to protect civil rights while ignoring the trauma of students who were targeted for their politics and their ethnicity. This is not just about one person. This is about a pattern … As a Palestinian Christian, I need you to understand—this violence is not new to us. It’s what our people face under occupation. And now, it’s reaching us here—in churches, in classrooms, in the streets of Los Angeles. What happened at UCLA was not just an attack on students, it was an attack on truth and conscience. Justice must be served.”
In a statement, attorney Mark Kleiman said:
“Make no mistake: UCLA enabled the mob attack on the demonstrators … They let the mob set up illegal equipment and bring its own private army onto the campus right next to the peaceful student encampment … In fifteen years, the [UC] Regents and most of our city leaders will feel shame and pretend they were always against the genocide. But right now, careers are being ruined, and lives are being taken in Palestine—and our leaders are complicit.”
UCLA has a long and well-documented history of discriminating against pro-Palestinian views. CAIR-LA previously condemned the UCLA administration for threatening to withhold degrees from 55 students who were arrested for their participation in the anti-genocide encampment.
CAIR and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee also previously designated UCLA as an “institution of particular concern” due to its creation of a hostile campus environment for Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and Jewish students, staff, and faculty opposing Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The UCLA Taskforce on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, & Anti-Muslim Racism has issued three reports outlining the pattern of targeted discrimination and harassment of UCLA students and faculty speaking on Palestine and offered several recommendations, which UCLA has reportedly ignored.
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Digital Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com; CAIR-LA Senior Communications Coordinator Madi Morse-Hameed, mmorse-hameed@cair.com
