Candles illuminated the evening sky on Sunday as hundreds of people gathered in West Los Angeles to express solidarity with Israel, one day after a similar march and rally took place in support of Palestinian rights.
Sunday's comomeration began with a march at Young Israel of Century City, 9317 W. Pico Blvd. and continued to the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance at 9786 W. Pico Blvd.
"(We're) here to show solidarity to all the people who have been massacred, that have families that have been massacred, all the hostages. Here to show solidarity with the state of Israel," said Roz Rothstein, CEO of nonprofit organization Stand With Us.
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Participants loudly condemned the attacks in Israel by Hamas militants and said they felt empowered by the Israeli military’s response.
"I know many people who were called back," Rachel Evenhaim, who attended the solidarity march, said. "Some in America who flew back yesterday to help their brothers in Israel. I don’t feel scared, I feel power in our strength and I am very hopeful."
Among the attendants at Sunday's event was boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who joined the march along with religious leaders, community activists and elected officials.
"I am behind you guys 100%. God bless you," the boxer said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom also sent a message of solidarity. In a video posted to his social media earlier in the day, the California governor condemned Hamas' attack on Israel.
Across town in Mid-Wilshire- The If Not Now movement organizers held a Mourner’s Prayer for the Israelis and Palestinians killed in the recent violence.
"The only way to ensure Jewish safety and Palestinian safety is partnership between Jews and Palestinians," said Asher Kaplan, an If Not Now LA volunteer. "And the escalating violence that we're seeing from the Israeli government, with support of the US government, is certainly doing nothing to help that."
The group is demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas War and calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
"We want to grieve, grieve for our friends and loved ones that we've lost, and at the same time, not allow that grief, not allow our hearts to harden and not allow our Jewish pain to justify more violence," said David Shapiro, an organizer for If Not Now LA.
Ahead of the march, the Los Angeles Police Department cautioned motorists to expect delays on southbound Doheny Drive, from Olympic Boulevard to Pico, and westbound Pico from Doheny to Roxbury Drive.
Several hundred people marched for Palestinian rights Saturday afternoon in front of the Consulate General of Israel at 11766 Wilshire Blvd., in an event organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, which held similar events in cities around North America amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas.
