By Alyson Garcia

April 30 marked the one-year anniversary of the UCLA encampments protesting the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. While the conflict has spanned decades, tensions escalated following the October 7, 2023, attack in which Hamas launched a surprise assault on Israel.

UCLA was one of the prominent universities receiving coverage for its encampment protesting the war. A year ago, the university moved classes and instruction remote for a week because of the heightened political tension between both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protestors. 

In anticipation of potential anniversary demonstrations, UCLA intensified its campus police presence earlier this week, as the university added more security guards and personnel to monitor its campus. Police forces even went as far as to block off Dickson Plaza. After previous demonstrations, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was declared by Chancellor Julio Frenk to be banned from organizing. Chancellor Frenk then doubled his efforts by announcing initiatives to curb anti-Semitism on campus.

Tensions have not abated a year later, as SJP faced numerous student suspensions for their protests. For instance, on April 30th, 2025, the organization prepared an anniversary screening of their film, The Encampments. Around 7:30 pm on Wednesday night, a few hundred protestors rallied at Wilson Plaza to watch the movie. 

Protestors marched across the UCLA campus, and sought to bring attention to the anniversary of pro-Israel counter-protestors attacking the pro-Palestinian encampment. Campus security did not take this event lightly, as police officers were reported to chase after students affiliated with SJP, which resulted in the arresting of three students.

There is speculation that the reason why UCLA is not tolerating any pro-Palestine demonstrations is because they are concerned about potential federal funding cuts. The Trump Administration has been cutting hundreds of millions of dollars of funding towards prominent universities who received national attention for their encampments, such as Columbia University. The administration justifies its budget cuts, citing anti-Semitism on college campuses as the primary reason. Due to these increased concerns, university officials are intolerant of any politically-motivated event that could jeopardize their budgets. 

The political climate in the United States has intense ramifications for the way UCLA will be governed in the future, and it is evident with the way the SJP group and their sentiments are handled. It is clear that the passion and fervor surrounding this issue will not be quelled anytime soon.