For Those Who Would Act When Genocide is Ignored: A Report Back from the UC Santa Cruz Encampment

Critical report and reflection on the launch of a student encampment in solidarity with Palestine at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC).

photo via Alex Darocy on Indybay.org

“The lifeblood of our encampment has been the act of seeing what needs to be done and doing it, without waiting for permission or instruction. We could not have built such outstanding supporting services for ourselves, nor could we have addressed evolving violent situations, otherwise. GRAB SOME PEOPLE AND GET IT DONE” – How We Can Win from UCLA

May 1st, Day One

Late morning, around 50 people set up a few dozen tents in UC Santa Cruz’s Quarry Plaza, a student quad that is the closest thing on campus that students have to a central hub. The Plaza itself is made up of a wide walking path with a bookstore, a cafe, and several student commons buildings surrounding it. It is in this wide walking path that student activists set up camp. The first few hours were busy and energetic, food arrives, wood pallets and traffic cones are set up to form a basic perimeter. Banners are dropped and morale is high thanks to a large May Day rally of hundreds which gathers in the parking lot near the main entrance of the Plaza. Set-up continues throughout the day, with more tents and people arriving, the makeshift barricades being bolstered with fencing, A-frames, and metal concert barriers.

A “people’s library” of zines and donated books pops up, a robust medic station is created. Student Leadership begins appointing more and more people as “security” and handing out yellow vests. An effort at security culture is made via a mask policy within the encampment, and the widespread use of “code names” for participants. All the surrounding buildings remained open to the public the first day. Much fuss is made about the fire marshal code, and so a walkway remains open on one side of the encampment for passersby to move through. University admin and staff linger on the sidelines, some talking to student organizers. The day moves fast, several “community meetings” are called, moderated by megaphone-toting leadership, and there are some teach-ins about Palestine and community events.

A few cop cars roll by on the main road, and every now and then a campus security vehicle stations itself in the parking lot. An effort is made to cover up the security cameras in the area. The Graduate Student Commons, which is a small lounge located above the cafe, is left open and a mix of grad students and campers stay there late into night, taking advantage of the kitchenette and restrooms inside. The campers eat dinner, everyone is provided a tent and sleeping bags, and the camp retires for the night, although many stay up late chatting, and a security detail of yellow vesters stays at the camp entrances throughout the night.

Day Two

A cold, quiet morning starts off day two of the encampment. Half a dozen security people sip coffee and wander around, and eventually the rest of the campers begin to wake up. Through the day programming continues with more teach-ins. Organizers hold some low-key meetings in the corners of the encampment.

The camp really expands day two, from 50 to over a hundred campers that trickled in through the day. Out of necessity, the camp expands farther down the quarry path. More barricade materials are scavenged from the surrounding areas. Student leadership really starts exerting influence, with more and more concern displayed for respectability, including much anxiety expressed over graffiti, banners, and slogans that do not fit into their image.

The graduate student commons, which at this point has been de-facto occupied, becomes a place for meetings, and some tents are moved onto the balcony. The surrounding buildings, including the bookstore and the student resource centers, are closed due to the protests. That night, the cafe is briefly opened but leadership shuts down the idea to occupy it. There is also a push to expand the camp into the front parking lot, but that is shut down too in a moderated community forum. Police remain a no-show, but it is reported that under covers are patrolling campus, and admin continues to hover. A sense of fear and anxiety is palpable, as organizers stress about what actions may or may not mean retaliation from the University. A late night meeting, campers retire for the night, and security takes up the nighttime watch.

Day Three

By day three the camp has begun to seriously fall into routine. Camp continues to grow. Some reporters and what look like independent filmmakers show up. More organizer meetings, a de-arrest training, and more teach-ins on the patio of the closed cafe, which has been dubbed “The People’s University.” Leadership organizes a basic tier of risk tolerance, and reorganizes some of the tents to reflect this, so that those who are willing to be arrested are in tents closer to the perimeter. Tents are also moved in anticipation of possible rain.

Here’s some analysis about the first few days of the encampment, which at time of writing is still going strong into it’s seventh day.

Analysis

It is incredibly important to stress the fact that this encampment is not an autonomous space. This action was planned and continues to be controlled by the local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who have been in close communication with UCSC administration, and who are devoted to tactics of respectability politics, peace policing, and non-escalation. As of time of writing, the UCSC encampment is suffering from “slow death by committee,” failing to escalate, expand, or act boldly. [Editor’s note: According to a press release posted to Indybay.org, talks between the encampment representatives and campus administration has broken down, and demonstrators are expected a police raid.]

At every turn, actions by non-organizers at the encampment have been discouraged and micro-managed, and used as justifications for leadership to consolidate their power by being the loudest and most “reasonable” voices. Echoing every single report back we’ve read from around the country, we can’t wait around to decide everything in a meeting, that will just slow us down, and now is not the time to give a platform to those who are too timid to act. The hesitancy of leadership towards autonomous action is exactly the kind of attitude that creates a culture that is too nervous of the threat of violence to stand in solidarity with Palestine. The only language the colonizer understands is militancy, we can’t afford to deny that right now. It is impossible to peacefully end a genocide, getting free is a struggle, and we shouldn’t condemn the strategies of others fighting for liberation alongside us.

SJP leadership expresses hostility towards the University of California (UC) in their slogans and speeches, but are in fact in close communication with them. The original parameters of the encampment were communicated to administration, and admin has laid out certain ground rules that SJP is committed to adhering to. This has led to an incredible misplacement of priorities, such as the obsession over following fire marshal code, and the refusal to occupy new buildings because it might mean a police response.

SJP knows they are being peace police, and have excuses at the ready. Ultimately, they are liberals practicing counterinsurgency on themselves. They perpetuate the “outside agitator” narrative that divides students and non-students, and absorb the energy of new participants by handing them safety vests and encouraging a shared power trip.

The encampment is not prepared for police brutality. They want to grow, but are paralyzed by the fear that doing so will invite police violence (which is coming regardless). They want to hold space and prepare for escalation at some magical future point. Our best chance to escalate is now, before the police come. There is no time to wait, and the time for words is over.

No flimsy agreement or negotiated space will keep the police from coming forever; we need to prepare for them to come by taking space while we can. We keep us safe not by policing each other but by having each others backs and being unified in our shared goals, if not always in our tactics. We keep us safe, not the cops, not the University.

FREE PALESTINE and DEATH TO WHITE SUPREMACY. Shame on organizers for chanting “Globalize The Intifada” while simultaneously negotiating with the occupying force.

We believe that these dynamics are likely present in many of the current Palestine Solidarity Encampments around the country and world, and that describing and naming the counterinsurgency tactics of organizers can help us find new ways forward on the path of ending colonialism and genocide in Palestine.

Suggested Reading: Peace Police are Police