Requiem for May Day: A Diary of Encampment Protest
“First Moments:” Students setting up the Encampment. Photo by Gary Fields.
May 1st is eminently well known in many corners of the world as “May Day” and is celebrated as a holiday honoring the labor of the world’s workers. Sadly, in the U.S. this date passes most often virtually unnoticed and without fanfare. As May 1st approaches in this year, however, it is worth remembering that May Day one year ago gave new meaning to the Vietnam protest-era slogan popularized by Todd Gitlin in his book, “The Whole World is Watching.” In another way, it was, as Dickens would have it, “the best of times and the worst of times.” What follows is a personal story and tribute on this 1-year anniversary of that moment of protest on a single University campus that now lives in our memory of what is possible and heroic.
On May Day, 2024 on the campus where I work – the University of California, San Diego — a blue sky somehow prevailed over the fog known in the area at this time of year as “May Gray.” Admittedly, I had received a cryptic tip from a student activist that “something was likely to happen midweek” and so I had parked myself on this May Day near the iconic Geisel Library building since that was where most campus activism occurred. At roughly 11:00 a.m. I noticed 9-10 young individuals hurriedly approaching a grassy spot near the Library, hauling what looked to be camping equipment. The group placed the gear on the grass and left it there while rushing back to another spot near the Library, where they had left additional equipment, and they proceeded to bring the additional gear to the same location where they had left the initial haul. I knew at once what was occurring on this grassy area. These young people were setting up a protest encampment at UCSD — and I was watching it unfold in its initial moment.
By now, the entire world was familiar with what was now about to occur on the UCSD campus. On April 17, 2024 a courageous group of students at Columbia University set up the first of these protest venues where they called out a genocide occurring in Gaza perpetrated by the State of Israel but enabled by weekly shipments of armaments to Israel by the United States. In this way, the Columbia protestors directed their anger at the U.S. as well, but they also singled out Columbia — and Universities across the country — as auxiliaries in this genocidal crime, with universities functioning as research sites for the weaponry being used in Israel’s onslaught. Within a week, dozens of Encampments emerged at universities across the country. By the time of the Encampment at UCSD on May Day, roughly 80 Encampments were protesting the genocide in Gaza and America’s participation in it.
What was striking about the UCSD students in this opening act of setting up the Encampment was their calm but spirited demeanor as they methodically began to lay out the tents on the grassy site while announcing to onlookers on the campus what they were doing. The site chosen was centrally located and highly visible so it would be impossible not to notice it. At the same time, as the students began to set up the Encampment, the tents spilled over into the space of another iconic node on the campus, the grove of “Talking Trees,” a forested area absent much foot traffic. In this way, the site was central but secluded so that the Encampment would be visible as an insignia of protest but would not interfere with campus life.
Day 1
After watching these initial stirrings of the Encampment for 30 minutes, I hurried back to my office where I kept a camera and returned to the site. What was striking from the outset was the steady arrival of more and more students. By mid-afternoon, as the tents of the Encampment began to take shape, one of the signature demands of the students also made a prominent appearance — “Tritons Say No Genocide.”
“Early Arrivals”: People coming to the Encampment on Day 1. Photo by Gary Fields.
Encampment Community: By 5:00 in the afternoon of May Day, the Encampment sported a medical tent and a food and drinks dispensary with much of the food donated to the Encampment. Photo by Gary Fields.
As late afternoon gave way to early evening on this May Day, and as more and more people began to arrive, the Encampment at UCSD assumed the form of a small community. There was food, drinks, a medical tent, and an atmosphere of comradery but what was striking was how orderly it all seemed. By late afternoon, as students began to mark the space with chalk proclaiming what they represented, a group of 20-25 faculty members found a spot at the northern perimeter of the Encampment and designated it as a space of faculty solidarity with the students of the Encampment.
At 4:30 in the afternoon of Day 1, one of the first important actions occurred at the Encampment which consisted of a meeting called by a security team put together by Encampment organizers. The aim of the meeting was to disseminate a nonviolent code of conduct for all who wanted to participate in the Encampment protest. The Code included a strict behavioral requirement of no racism, no sexism, and no antisemitism of any kind along with an order not to engage with any hostile individuals who might try and provoke Encampment protestors into violence. What was striking about the meeting was the sophistication of the presenters in explaining to the group the seriousness of what they were about to experience.
Day 1 Evening
At 5:30 in the evening, with the crowd both inside the Encampment and on Library Walk getting larger, organizers informed the community that there would be an ambitious program planned for the evening. One of these organizers asked me if I could open the evening with a short speech which would take place at about 7:30. I agreed and in the next hour gathered my thoughts in an effort to honor what these students had accomplished on this memorable day. I had no idea that what the students had planned would turn out to be the most extraordinary evening I have ever experienced in my 23 years at UCSD.
By 6:30 in the evening, the crowd in and around the Encampment site had swelled to several hundred people both inside the camp perimeter and outside on Library Walk. Interestingly, a few members of the UCSD police were on hand and when asked by several faculty members about their impressions of the Encampment, these officers admitted that the Encampment protest was peaceful.
“Encampment Enlargement 1: Students pouring into the Encampment on Day 1. Photo by Gary Fields.
Encampment Enlargement 2: Encampment Supporters Spilling over into Library Walk on Day 1. Photos by Gary Fields.
My remarks at 7:30 opening the evening went reasonably well, but what awaited those at the Encampment as the most memorable moment of the evening was indeed a surprise. At roughly 9:30 organizers introduced their keynote guest for the evening, Linda Sarsour, whose fiery speeches during the Women’s Marches of the first Trump era had made her famous. She delivered a rousing presentation to a large crowd assembled along Library Walk. “You are the generation I only dreamed about,” she said. “You are the generation standing against genocide.” And she continued:
You stand in a long line of student activists that helped end the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa. Universities that divested from South Africa can also divest from the State of Israel…. There will be people who will try and shut you down. I want you to stand your ground and fight for what you believe and know is right.
“Linda Sarsour”: Linda Sarsour speaking at the UCSD Encampment. Photo by Phillip Salata used with permission.
It was a tremendously uplifting moment for the student protestors and following the speech, the crowd was jubilant and broke into dance. Many among the faculty who had gathered during the day to support the protest, stayed well past midnight as the students in the camp prepared to spend their first night in the place they called, the “liberated zone,” a metaphor of what they imagined the University could be.
Encampment Day 3: “Shabbat”
Despite the participation of many Jewish students and faculty at the Encampment, one of the shrill objections to the protest at UCSD – and Encampments in general — was that such actions directed against the Gaza genocide threatened Jewish students and faculty and were thus antisemitic.”
Interestingly, during the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., White residents in the South expressed similar fears about sit-ins at lunch counters in Greensboro and Nashville, documented in the celebrated film, Eyes on the Prize. These segregationists insisted that they felt threatened by Blacks protesting in this manner, and that such protests were threats to their civil rights. Day 3 of the Encampment happened to fall on a Friday and organizers planned an evening event to honor the Jewish tradition of Shabbat, the Sabbath, considered the most sacred of Jewish holidays. It would be the second iconic moment of the Encampment. The organization, Jewish Voice for Peace coordinated the event with Encampment organizers and invited local Rabbi Alexis Pearce to preside over the ceremony.
At the Shabbat service, Rabbi Pearce emphasized how Jewish tradition holds all life sacred. “As we raise the kiddush cup to sanctify the Sabbath,” she proclaimed, “we gather tonight while genocidal violence is being inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza by a state that purports to act in the name of the Jewish people.” She continued with a question: “What is required of us in this tragic moment? Let us affirm: If we fail to give the Palestinian people a voice; if we read the Exodus story as a story of Jewish liberation alone, we will not have fulfilled the requirement to sanctify the Sabbath.” It was an electrifying moment for the many different faiths attending that evening that ended in a celebratory atmosphere to echo what Rabbi Pearce had emphasized about respecting all life as messages of “Not in Our Name” and “Cease Fire Now” resonated among the crowd in a sea of chants for peace.
“Shabbat:” Rabbi Alexis Pearce reciting the blessing at the Encampment celebration of the Jewish Sabbath. Photo by Gary Fields.
“Shabbat Night:” Following the service of Rabbi Pearce, attendees celebrate Jewish and Palestinian unity for peace. Photos by Gary Fields.
Weekend: Encampment Days 4 and 5
As the weekend approached, the big question on everyone’s mind, especially those sleeping inside the Encampment, was whether the UCSD Administration was planning to crack down on the protest. It is true that the Administration was trying to discredit the Encampment as an affront to Jewish students and faculty that was making Jews on campus “feel” unsafe, and that it was the responsibility of the University to make everyone feel safe and welcome on the campus. It was also true that the Administration was crafting a discourse that it was promoting to the media about broader issues of “safety” supposedly being compromised by the protest. At the same time, many believed that the UCSD Chancellor did not want to sully his name by using force to shut down what, by all accounts, was a completely peaceful action. Despite some uneasiness about how campus authorities might react, the weekend witnessed two days of massive celebratory protest at the Encampment with huge crowds on both days. “Boycott! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest,” and “Gaza you are not alone; this campus is a freedom zone” were heard throughout the two days in chants delivered by students in the hundreds.
Sunday was a glorious day in San Diego with warm temperatures and a crystalline blue sky alongside the largest Encampment crowd against the genocide in Gaza. Sunday also witnessed a highly organized effort by Zionist groups from outside the University to provoke the Encampment protestors. These counter-protestors, who were clearly not students at UCSD, entered Library Walk from the North in the early afternoon waving large Israeli flags along with American flags and marched past the Encampment coming within inches of the Encampment protestors. Shouting epithets at the students from the Encampment, these provocateurs tried to entice the Encampment students into violence, but the students remained steadfast and disciplined, not falling into the trap being set for them of being violent antisemites. After roughly thirty minutes, the counter-protestors eventually left without incident.
“Counterprotest”: Non-students from outside UCSD entered the space around the Encampment and were within inches of Encampment protestors in a failed effort to provoke the latter into violence. Photo by Gary Fields.
The departure of the counter-protestors set off perhaps the most spirited protest during of the entire Encampment to the cadence of chants: “Hey hey; ho ho; the occupation has got to go” and “The people united will never be defeated” and many others. It was late afternoon and for the first time in five days, I left the Encampment before the evening, confident that the students had defended themselves honorably in the encounter with the Zionists outsiders, and that the Administration would not dare try and remove them.
“Celebration”: Day 5 Encampment Protest Celebration late Sunday Afternoon. Photo by Gary Fields.
Coda
On Monday morning of May 6th, I received a phone call at 6:00 a.m. from Danny W., a faculty member and avid supporter of the Encampment. “The police are raiding the Encampment right now,” he said. “You might want to go there right away.” Stunned, I got myself together and managed to arrive at the scene by 6:45 where I saw a line of police arrayed against a crowd of students, many of whom had just been violently routed from the Encampment. At the same time, I starred almost hypnotically at the site of the Encampment, now almost completely demolished. The UCSD Chancellor had called in three police forces to shut down the Encampment and justified it by proclaiming the protest to be a “safety hazard” and a “threat to Jewish students and faculty.” I was told that the police had arrived at the Encampment at 5:00 a.m. and began to rouse students from the tents, beating some of them and arresting 67 people including two faculty members. When students began to protest against this brutality on Library Walk, the police confronted them, threatening them with more violence and arrest. For the remainder of the day the police forces continued to patrol the University while closing all entry to the campus. In an instant, the atmosphere at UCSD had changed from one of a celebratory protest, to a space of authoritarian rule. Nothing like this had ever happened at UCSD, which has a rich history of protest going back to the anti-Vietnam War protests, as the Encampment succumbed to the forces of order.
“Confrontation:” Police confront protestors after arresting 67 individuals. Photo by Gary Fields.
“Eradication:” Police hazmat crew dismantling the Encampment. Photo by Gary Fields.
The Encampment at UCSD was a heroically creative episode in a longer story of protest on the campus against injustice and a broader story of protest against the genocide of a people. Students at the Encampment had defended the right to assembly in a cultural environment now becoming infected with the scourge of authoritarianism. Sadly, instead of defending this right and promoting the University as a space of free and open expression on critical issues of our time, the leadership at UCSD, and leaders at many other Universities, were revealing themselves as collaborators in this authoritarian project. This collaboration with authoritarianism is largely to blame for the crisis unfolding at this moment on University campuses in which students are being abducted, their visas revoked, sitting in prisons and awaiting deportation. It will take more Encampment-like protests to overcome this horrific travesty now haunting us all.
