UC Santa Barbara Students Create ‘Liberated Zone’ in Solidarity with Gaza

All day on April 25, students at UC Santa Barbara joined universities across the country in establishing the “Popular University for Gaza” — a “liberated zone” in the campus Student Resource Building. The demonstration and symbolic encampment were in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people and demanding “financial transparency, the defense of Palestinian activists, a declaration of the occupation of the Palestinian people, and a divestment from all companies and partnerships” actively supporting Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to National Students for Justice in Palestine. 

“We will not go on business as usual,” one speaker said. “We will hold our university accountable.”

Organizations participating in this event, such as UCSB Divest, have been continuously advocating for UCSB’s divestment from companies involved with defense contract work and in Israeli government and defense — particularly Black Rock; its endowment investment partner, Raytheon, which has offices in Goleta; the Boeing Company; and Lockheed Martin — since 2021. Another group, Students for Justice in Palestine, has been active at UCSB since 2014. 

The movement on UCSB’s campus does not have the strength or resources to establish an actual encampment, organizers said. “That is just the reality. It is not safe,” said one speaker with Jewish Voices for Peace. Instead, organizers — such as UCSB Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voices for Peace, Food Not Bombs, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation — set up a day with teach-ins, art stands, traditional dance, film screenings, and lunch and dinner while students occupied the space from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

The day began with familiar chants like “Free, free Palestine,” and “from Mexico to the Philippines; stop the U.S. war machine” — with speakers calling for “radical empathy and collective liberation.” Organizers read statistics of the over 34,000 deaths in Gaza and hundreds of arrests on campuses across the country. Eight tents were erected in the center of the building, symbolizing campus encampments at universities around the country, such as University of Southern California, Columbia University, Emerson College, UC Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, and Emory University. Flyers called for donations to bail efforts and provided phone scripts to demand the release of arrested students. 

The teach-ins led conversations on lobbying to protect organizing, prisoners of war, the militarization of the police, the history of anti-Zionism within Jewish communities, and a screening of the documentary Gaza Is Our Home, with a Q&A with director Monear Shaer. 

“In order to maintain a liberated space, it is important that we remain principled in upholding community guidelines,” one speaker said. Organizers made clear that the day was to remain peaceful, telling students not to engage with press or provoke counter-protesters, not to block doorways, and only shout chants off the chant-sheet. 

No major incidents, arrests, or citations were reported during the day of demonstrations at UCSB. The university has not released a statement regarding the demands for divestment.

Political protest is not new to UCSB’s campus. Student demonstrations such as the Vietnam War protests in 1965, the North Hall takeover in 1968, and Hunger Strikes for Chicano students in 1994 are a large part of UCSB’s history. In 1986, students across University of California campuses were successful in urging their institution to divest $3.1 billion from companies involved in South Africa during apartheid. And this March, several students organized a hunger strike, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, among other demands.

Organizers said demonstrations will likely continue on UCSB’s campus until demands are met. On Wednesday, May 1, UCSB academic workers and researchers against the war will take action with a walkout and a rally.  “Join us as we advocate, organize, and mobilize, all for the love of collected liberation,” one speaker concluded.