Photo by Aaron Bandler Around 700 people showed up to a pro-Israel rally in front of the Federal Building in Westwood on May 16, the day after a large pro-Palestinian protest at the same location.
The May 15 protest, “Nakba 73: Resistance Until Liberation,” featured more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters, which included chants of “Free Palestine.” The May 16 “Rally for Israel” was essentially a response to the Nakba protest and a show of grassroots support for Israel.
Mati Geula Cohen, who helped organize the pro-Israel rally, told the Journal that the initial plan was to counterprotest the May 15 rally, but changed the rally to May 16 after talking to the police about it. “We were working on a counterprotest for like three days for [May 15] and we decided that we’d stop doing that because it would be too crazy because they had a ton of people,” Cohen said.
He called the May 15 pro-Palestinian protest “a bit wild” because “they shut down Wilshire Boulevard and had people flowing throughout Westwood and… you had them shouting ‘Intifada intifada’… they were saying things I would not expect them to be saying in a very public forum.”
Jonathan Bar-El, Israel’s Consul for Public Diplomacy in Los Angeles, told the Journal that he wished that the pro-Palestinian protesters would “come here and protest together with us against Hamas,” arguing that Hamas is responsible for the loss of life in the recent escalation between Israel and the Gaza Strip. “If [the pro-Palestinian protesters are] not condemning Hamas, they’re supporting Hamas.”
The May 16 pro-Israel rally featured Israel supporters dancing, waving Israeli flags and holding signs stating, “Free Palestine from Hamas,” “Hamas, Stop Using Gaza As a Launching Pad” and “Israel Has a Right to Defend Itself.” A DJ also blared Israeli music throughout the rally.
“As an American and an Iranian Jewish refugee to this country, I feel it is incumbent upon me and others like us to reject the moral equivalence of what’s happening in Israel right now,” Sam Yebri, who is running for the Los Angeles City Council, told the Journal during the rally. “Hamas is responsible for starting these hostilities and the tragic deaths of both Israelis and Gazans, and it’s time for the world to reject the lies and misinformation that’s being shared widely as Israel tries to do what any government would do to defend its citizens from indiscriminate bombing and terrorism.”
Odin Pinhas Ozdil, the Los Angeles regional director for the Zionist youth organization Club Z, lauded pro-Israel teenagers involved with the organization for standing up for themselves and being able to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although they’re still “being shut down.” “Today is a place for families to come out and show their support for Israel and to be proud of their heritage… just to be a part of that helps me deal with my emotions and what’s happening to my family in Israel,” he told the Journal during the rally.
Siamak Kordestani, West Coast director for the Friends of the European Leadership Network (ELNET), also told the Journal that the rally is “a message of support for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and I’m proud to be here with my fellow Los Angeles Jews to put that out there, and I want the people of Israel to know that we’re with them during this very difficult time.” He added that he has family in Israel that had to take shelter in a stairway because they didn’t have bomb shelters. “This affects us in Israel, this affects in Europe, this affects us in the United States, and we’re here to show our solidarity and… support for the Jewish people and the state of Israel… we’re not anti-Palestinian, we’re pro-peace.”
Bar-El said that it was “warming to the heart to see all the support” for Israel at the rally. “Nothing is more important right now than to go outside, to go to the streets, to go on social media and to tell the truth and to advocate for the truth of Israel” as well as the Middle East.
Cohen said the turnout at the rally was around what they were expecting and is hoping that they will get an even bigger turnout for their next rally in the same location on May 23. “I would like to see people protesting in LA and around the world until Hamas is demilitarized or moved because until that happens, Palestinians and Israelis are going to be targeted by Hamas and Hamas militarism.”
This article has been updated.
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