Only a few hours later, police in riot gear arrived to break up the encampment, pepper spraying demonstrators and arresting 27 of them.

Many face imminent starvation and disease due to the Israeli bombing campaign, which has destroyed most of Gaza's critical infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, universities, schools, places of worship and more.

[6] More generally, former president Donald Trump had been comparing pro-Palestinian protesters at universities nationwide to the hostile aggressors at the Unite the Right rally.

[8] Following the indiscriminate and widespread bombardment of Palestinians after the October 7 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which occurred in response to decades of illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, protests in support of Palestine included a student group publishing an October 11 statement of support for a Free Palestine.

[9] On Tuesday, April 30, student groups decided to convene a peaceful demonstration for Palestine starting the following day, Wednesday, May 1.

[1] At the establishment of the protest, opponents compared the pro-Palestinian demonstrators to the white supremacists who organized the Unite the Right rally.

[2] On Saturday, May 4, police force ended the demonstration only hours after UVa’s administration instituted a last-minute change to their policy to disallow tents on campus.