Protesters in Los Angeles rallied in solidarity with Palestinians and condemned “colonial oppression,” calling for a socialist revolution.
LOS ANGELES—A California woman sobbed as she learned that her friend’s 19-year-old son was kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist group in Israel.
The next day, on Oct. 12, as news of pro-Palestinian “Day of Resistance” rallies spread across the United States, the woman, who’s of Jewish heritage and asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, broke the tragic news: Her friend’s son had been killed by the terrorists.
The same evening, a group of activists in south Los Angeles staged a protest in solidarity with Palestinians. Two days later, demonstrators again rallied, with thousands gathering near the Israeli Consulate, at one point shutting down the on- and off-ramps to Wilshire Boulevard from the 405 Freeway.
At the Oct. 12 protest, activists equated the plight of Palestinians to those of “indigenous peoples.” They called the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip an “occupation” steeped in racism. They blamed the “capitalist” Jews and white Europeans for the loss of their “indigenous lands” and called for a socialist revolution.
“All resistance to colonial occupation is justified!” one speaker shouted at the event.
Protesters chanted, “From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” among other slogans. They blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for children who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in response against Hamas and condemned Zionism, equating it with South African apartheid, fascism, and Nazism.
The protest, at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Figueroa Street, was organized by Unión del Barrio and the Association of Raza Educators and other left-wing activist groups known for their support of critical race theory and the state-imposed ethnic studies program.
Julia Wallace of the Service Employees International Union spoke out against Zionism. She called for defunding police as “enforcers of capitalism,” saying they should be ousted from the labor union.
Another speaker called for a protest outside the South Los Angeles police station on Oct. 22.
“Let’s take over the police station,” he told the crowd of about 30 supporters.
By Brad Jones
