Independent presidential candidate Cornel West joins anti-Israel protest at UCLA

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West threw his support behind a campus protest Wednesday against Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, which he called “genocidal.”

In a video statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, West said that he was going to the University of California, Los Angeles to join a Wednesday protest organized by Students for Justice in Palestine that is taking place on more than 100 college campuses all over the nation. The protest is the second such national action organized by the group since Hamas terrorists launched a series of attacks on Oct. 7. The attack and Israel’s subsequent military response have claimed the lives of more than 7,000 people on both sides, according to numbers from Israeli officials and the Hamas-run health ministry.

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“I am on my way to UCLA to be in deep solidarity with the precious students, Palestinian students, but all students, who are in solidarity with what is happening with our precious Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza,” West said, calling the Israeli attacks on Gaza “genocidal” and “barbaric.”

The protest was advertised publicly as a walkout to “end the siege on Gaza.” The organization said it “demand[s] an end to Israel’s siege on Gaza” through a ceasefire, an end to U.S. aid to Israel, and a demand that “universities fully divest from weapons corporations which arm Israel’s occupation and genocide in Gaza.” Besides UCLA, protests were planned at numerous other institutions, including Arizona State University, Florida State University, George Mason University, DePaul University, Ohio State University, and the State University of New York.

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West, who briefly sought the Green Party nomination before striking out on his own, is one of at least two high-profile 2024 independent presidential candidates. The other, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., initially challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination. West and Kennedy have registered non-negligible support in polls when matched up with Biden and former President Donald Trump, the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination.

“I am blessed to be a part of the walkout at UCLA,” West said in the video statement. “We want freedom across the board. We want equal dignity, equal rights, and equal status for Palestinians and Israelis.”