L.A. demonstrators call for peace, freedom for Palestinian people
Vivian Chow
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Saturday, calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza.
The marchers gathered at the Los Angeles Israeli Consulate as the Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 9,448, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war, according to the Associated Press.
As the war between Israel and Hamas marks nearly a month now, anger and frustration over the conflict is growing in Southern California.
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
A large group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in West Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2023 calling for the end to Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Gaza. (KTLA)
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Saturday’s march was organized by BAMN, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary.
Marchers in L.A. were joined in solidarity by thousands of others across the globe from Washington to Milan to Paris — all calling for peace.
The march began at the Israeli consulate on the 11700 block of Wilshire Boulevard in Brentwood before ending at the Federal Building in Westwood.
L.A. demonstrators called Israel’s military offensive in Gaza a “genocidal invasion and occupation” that must be ended.
“It’s always been a land grab, continued settlement expansion, and really, an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” said Sam Suleiman, a demonstrator. “Everybody here, everybody in the world is calling for a ceasefire and the ending of this genocide.”
“We’re here and marching in solidarity with the March on Washington today, calling for an end to the occupation of Gaza,” said Stephanie Gutierrez, a marcher with BAMN. “We’re calling for freedom to the Palestinian people and we are a part of this global movement.”
Palestinians by the buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Bureij refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
CORRECTS DATE Palestinians rescue a child from under the rubble after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
FILE – Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in the Gaza Strip, Oct. 16, 2023. Former President Donald Trump and other top Republicans are issuing increasingly urgent calls for the U.S. to seal its borders against a potential mass exodus of Palestinians fleeing war in the Gaza Strip, suggesting that a surge in civilian refugees could allow potential extremists into the country. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
Palestinians evacuate wounded from a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians walk by the buildings destroyed in the Israeli bombardment on al-Zahra, on the outskirts of Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Mahmoud)
FILE – Journalists observe as Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Journalists reporting in Gaza need to worry about basic survival for themselves and their families in addition to getting out the story of a besieged population. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
Wounded Palestinians wait for treatment, at the al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
Palestinians evacuate wounded from a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment in Rafah refugee camp in Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Iraqis hold a mass rally supporting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Palestinians walk by the destroyed building of Al Nuseirat Bakery in an Israeli airstrike Nusseirat refugee camp Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
A Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of the building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Bureij refugee camp Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Demonstrators chant slogans during a protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, at Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. Groups of protesters roamed the city on motorcycles and gathered outside the French embassy, and the headquarters of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. They were unable to reach the heavily fortified U.S. embassy compound in the hills north of Beirut. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against growing U.S. pressure for a “humanitarian pause” in the war to protect civilians and allow more aid into Gaza, insisting there would be no temporary cease-fire until the roughly 240 hostages held by Hamas are released.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third trip to Israel since the war began, reiterating American support for Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas after its brutal Oct. 7 attack in Israel. He also echoed President Joe Biden’s calls for a brief halt in the fighting to address the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Alarm has grown over spiraling Palestinian deaths and deepening misery for civilians from weeks of Israeli bombardment and a widening ground assault that risks even greater casualties. Overwhelmed hospitals say they are nearing collapse, with medicine and fuel running low under the Israeli siege. About 1.5 million people in Gaza, or 70% of the population, have fled their homes, the United Nations said Friday.
Palestinians are increasingly desperate for the most basic supplies, according to AP reports.
The average Gaza resident is now surviving on two pieces of bread per day, much of it made from stockpiled U.N. flour, said Thomas White, Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Demands for drinking water are also growing.
