we have heard, right across as such, we have heard, right across the country the jewish groups, jewish students, parents of students, saying, we no longer want to send our children including a private institution, saying that the don't feel safe essentially, we have seen those concerns right across the country, echoed. obviously, there is also concern. there has been a reported rise of both anti—semitic and islamophobic incident here as well. this is about balancing a first amendment rights, the right to protest, but also people's ability to go about their everyday lives, to carry on their learning in a way that feels safe from harm, and that is what students say they have not been able to do here. we is what students say they have not been able to do here.— been able to do here. we have certainly had — been able to do here. we have certainly had the _ been able to do here. we have certainly had the politicians - certainly had the politicians weighing in, the former house speaker, nancy pelosi spoke about that, the right to protest is enshrined and should protected but she also called on protesters to

think about the other side of this, to think about hamas and actions and what they have done. and to understand perhaps a little bit more about the new ones in this conflict. do you get any sense that that conversation is happening on any of these campuses? people are finding it hard to talk to each other right now, would be my assessment, right in the middle of this encampment is a sign saying, hamas free the hostages. talking about that nuance, what israel is responding to, october the 7th, and in terms of responses from politicians, you only need to think about a bipartisan bill which passed this morning in congress calling out anti—semitism as well. suddenly some difficult conversations being had in this country. we are hearing the

explosions, what are they, you mentioned fireworks? it is difficult to tell but it seems they are flash bangs potentially, obviously i can't confirm right now. it appeared earlier some fireworks might have been thrown from inside the encampment but whether these are being used by authorities to try to disperse the crowd, or some is coming from protesters as well, it is not clear at this moment. i have seen objects being thrown out of the encampment at police, bottles, a piece of furniture i did see, and perhaps you can even see billowing into the air some kind of smoke canister as well. what about campaign organisers, people who are behind these protest movements? in campuses elsewhere

there have been accusations there are perhaps outside influences, people without any links but who want to stir up discontent. that has always been the concern and from what we saw from the violence on the ground last night, there was the concern these were agitators involved. as we continue to look at these pictures, and the number of arrests in the last few days at campuses is more than 1000. today alone we are talking about over 400 protests in 24 hours, encampments have been broken up across the country, and there is a rest continue. if you think

historically the magnitude of this. we definitely have not seen something like this since the late 19605 something like this since the late 1960s here in the united states, since that wave of protests against us involvement in the vietnam war, since the birth of the free speech movement in california at the university of berkley. during those times as well we saw violent clashes. we saw four students killed when the national guard moved in. that caused a nationwide strike. obviously authorities are keen to avoid any kind of violence again. how much of a political issue has this become? absolutely. firstly the fact the bill passed in congress condemning anti—semitism with bipartisan support which came to the floor so

quickly and knowing what we know about congressional politics right now and how difficult it is to find consensus in washington, i think that speaks volumes. in terms ofjoe biden, he has a difficult balancing act because he has always been a staunch supporter of israel, he has always called out anti—semitism and he has done so once again. but he has also mentioned and reiterated that people should have the right to protest in the same way as you say the former speaker of the house nancy pelosi had also reiterated. he has an election to contest in six months, at a time when looking at the opinion polls, he has found it increasingly difficult with young voters who say if you look at a recent poll, 85% of which are dissatisfied with his handling of the war. he also has to contend with

the war. he also has to contend with the fact any kind of ceasefire deal with agreement from israel and hamas has not been wrapped up yet. it is a difficult time for him to make statements. we have heard from his likely opponent, donald trump, who has said this kind of police action in his words is a beautiful thing. we will pause there for a few moments while we continue to look at those pictures. where in the past 20 minutes police have moved in, in huge numbers, trying to dismantle the camp put up by protesters in the past couple of days. we saw smoke or spray being fired from inside the encampment towards the police. the police, you can see that smoke there, and a wider shot away from there, and a wider shot away from the front line of what is happening, with dozens of people, more passive

protesters sitting and waiting on the hall. somebody speaking to them. things looked calm that away from the barricades. this is the scene there now. we understand highway patrol officers have reported income in the last hour, two clear crowds. in some cases officers have moved in with some clashes come in full riot gear, armed with rubber bullets, we can see one been pointed, it looks like a gun with a rubber bullet, this is the us where they are armed with guns as well, obviously no suggestion they are about to use them. a tense stand—off between police and protesters. protesters have been told their encampment is illegal, by the authorities, which is why the police have been called in to move them away. just one of dozens of demonstrations which had taken place across the us in recent days. there have been more than 1000

arrests in total. more than 400 in the past 24 hours alone. it is coming up to 3:40am in the united states in california. the huge media presence. this story being beamed around the world. great interested in —— great interest in the united states, rests on campuses across the country, one in austin, texas, in the past few hours, and let us listen into the chanting. chanting. free palestine!

we can hear those charts from protesters where things are clearly tense. the police have moved in. chance of free palestine. in the hours are reporter has been there, there has been peaceful protest but also chanting which could be construed as anti—semitic which is causing tension, unrest and upset within thejewish community and members of thejewish community there. and students who are saying in some instances they feel threatened and intimidated and have experienced anti—semitism themselves, being blocked from making their way to classes, in some colleges. the protesters are demanding that their schools financially divest from israel, that any ties with israel. let us go back to helena who is keeping a close

eye. it is tense, we have seen the police move in, now looking at people being led away with hand ties, led away from these protest escorted by police, what kind of numbers of arrests are you seeing? yes, exactly so. looking over my shoulder what i have managed to account on two hands so far. we are talking about at least ten by my count so far. one woman just came by with her hands behind her back saying, i do not consent to being searched. you can see as well some people there being searched, they had their hands behind their back. earlier on campus we saw police officers with zip ties. we know there are a number of buses in position, giving an indication

potentially an operation to dismantle this encampment would be happening tonight. we saw at least three of those police buses for these potential arrests. these people being led away right now. you can continue to see some commotion would be the best word to describe it right now inside that encampment. from our vantage point, this is as far as we have been allowed by the lapd and not any closer than this. you can see that commotion. at times there have been objects logged into there have been objects logged into the air. you can hear what appeared to be flash bangs. as this situation continues to unfold. in terms of items being above that encampment, you have got things like umbrellas, pieces of wood, anything that would

be in garden furniture. because of those violent clashes we saw last night, those people who decided to stay in the encampment were committed to building the barricades as best they could, to try to fortify against either a counter demonstration, orthe fact fortify against either a counter demonstration, or the fact this encampment would likely be broken down. so it was a trickyjob for authorities because they first try to enter via the back way, they had to enter via the back way, they had to break through that plywood. all day we were hearing hammering going on as demonstrators tried to make sure that they were as secure as possible from their perspective. then there's authorities moved the back way and decided they would try to enter this way. i am not entirely sure exactly how they managed to carve an entrance in. but as you can see they have. at times we are simply seeing police officers

grabbing huge chunks of that barricade including the metal fencing and tossing it to the side. they're bringing out the demonstrators. the picture we are looking at is from the perimeter. there is another shot we can show viewers from further inside the encampment, with dozens of people sitting there peacefully, not moving. we saw somebody stand up and addressed them a short time ago. there is definitely no sign that those people were going to be leaving any time soon. which presents the police with quite a challenge. as we look at the pictures of them pulling barricades down. of them escorting people away. there are large numbers of people they have to deal with right now. yes, and they have got to make sure their response is appropriate for everyone they encounter. throughout the day we have seen protesters

p°ppin9 the day we have seen protesters p°pping up the day we have seen protesters popping up over the barricades. they had been threatened with arrest but they have put up a peace sign or made a love heart. they are shouting out, peaceful protest, resist at any cost, what side of history are you on? harking back to the protests that gripped the late 1960s. there were moments of prayer inside we believe, people sitting on the floor. and another part of the campus, people were singing bob dylan, and blowing in the wind. but of course, now, we have seen as people try to resist arrest, things become more complicated and that is when you see more of that commotion. when you make the comparison between those anti—war protests in the

19705, those anti—war protests in the 1970s, they are different in the scale of those was far greater. hundreds of people come in some cases, a few thousand. in the 1970s it was many, many tens of thousands out on the streets and unified in their anti—war approach. these protests are a lot smaller and more divisive. yes. in terms of scale, clearly, they are smaller but if you speak to those people, they will say they haven't seen anything like that moment since then. so it has taken how many decades to arrive at this point. yes, there is polarisation in this debate, in this country. i think it is difficult for people to have conversations. you can see by the fact these sides as a separate even here on university. there is a great level of discomfort i think about talking about this. obviously

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