Thousands marched from the Israeli Consulate in West Los Angeles to the Federal Building in Westwood on Saturday, Oct. 14, forcing the temporary shutdown of part of the 405 Freeway as demonstrators called for Palestinian rights and Israel prepared for a large-scale, coordinated attack against Hamas in the Gaza strip.
The protesters joined planned demonstrations in other U.S. cities calling for the liberation of Gaza and of Palestinians.
A rally held by the Palestinian Youth Movement and other organizations are in front of the Consulate General of Israel on Saturday, Oct. 14. Scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. there are already over 100 people rallying in support of the Palestinian people. @ladailynews pic.twitter.com/SuAYwzDMzn
— Christina Merino (@christinam_love) October 14, 2023
As local protesters held up signs demanding to “free Palestine” and chanted “Israel, Israel you can’t hide,” Palestinians in Gaza struggled Saturday to flee from areas of their city targeted by the Israeli military. They were grappling with a growing water and medical supply shortage ahead of the expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel targeting civilians.
From the consulate, Saturday’s demonstration – dubbed “Rally for Return: ALL OUT FOR GAZA” — became a march to the Federal Building, with thousands filling Wilshire Boulevard and holding up Palestinian flags.
While the violence this week represents a new war in a region that has seen many, their demand was the same as it has been for generations — to free the Palestinian Territories from what the United Nations considers Israeli occupation, despite Israel’s claim otherwise.
Hussam Ayloush, CEO of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, better known as CAIR – pointed to that history, as he spoke at the demonstration on Saturday.
“What we’ve been witnessing is an attempt to dehumanize Palestinians,” he said, pushing back on what he said was a “myth” that the attack was “unprovoked” while decrying “75 years of dispossession, 75 years of abuse.”
Hamas rejects a proposed “two-state solution” — the peace initiative that seeks a Palestinian state established in territory that Israel captured in 1967 — and is sworn to Israel’s destruction. Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarized so as not to threaten Israel.
During the march to the Federal Building, police in riot gear held off marchers from walking onto the 405 near Wilshire after about a dozen tried to get onto the busy freeway. A group of five or so appeared to get access to the top of a hill and started waving a flag.
I want to give you an idea of the sheer size of this crowd as it’s coming up Wilshire, a very trafficked street on a busy afternoon. It’s been months since there was a protest that approached this size, showing just how strongly people feel about this major conflict. pic.twitter.com/Gr3LSwIHNn
— Emily Holshouser (@emilyytayylor) October 14, 2023
In another encounter, a car waving an Israeli flag drove past and people threw objects at it, grabbed the flag and trampled it.
By 3 p.m., LAPD officers had formed a riot line. But tensions with police appeared to flare again when a man holding an Israeli flag approached some people. Police separated everyone after a few minutes.
A small group of counterprotesters were present on Saturday in West L.A, representing Jewish communities in the U.S., France and elsewhere, which have held rallies and vigils in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country’s 75-year history.
Jews also gathered at synagogues this weekend for Shabbat services held amid the ongoing war. Rabbis led prayers of peace and grieved with their congregations. At many synagogues across the U.S., security was tight.
“More Jews were killed last Shabbat … than on any other day since the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Daniel Fellman during a service at Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh, a city already scarred by the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
“The world deserves better, the Palestinian people deserve better and we need to do better,” Fellman said.
Fellman urged an understanding that all people are connected, including Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Across the world, where the war is taking place, the violence did not appear to be easing. A humanitarian disaster was looming with the mass exodus of so many, United Nations officials warned.
In an update Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said 2,215 civilians, including 724 children and 458 women, have been killed since the conflict broke out one week ago.
Israel’s military said Hamas’ attack and ongoing rocket fire from Gaza had killed more than 1,300 people and left at least 3,200 wounded as of Friday. At least 29 Americans are known to be among the dead, a State Department spokesperson confirmed Saturday
The attacks continued Saturday, with Hamas launching rockets into Israel and Israel carrying out strikes in Gaza.
An Israeli airstrike near the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least 27 people and wounded another 80, Gaza health authorities said. Most of the victims were women and children, the authorities said. Doctors from Kamal Edwan Hospital shared chaotic footage of charred and disfigured bodies.
It was not clear how many Palestinians remained in northern Gaza by Saturday afternoon, said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. An estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in one week, she said.
As of about 4:20 p.m., the L.A. event was staying peaceful, LAPD Officer Drake Madison told City News Service.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
