Pro-Israel Rally Draws 2000 People To Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills CA

24 May, 2021

6:15 PM

Description

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —Beverly Gardens Park was awash in a sea of Israeli flags Sunday as around 2,000 people rallied Sunday against recent antisemitic attacks amid tensions between Israel and Hamas. The "United Against Antisemitism" rally was organized by a diverse range of pro-Israel organizations, including the Lawfare Project, End Jew Hatred, Students Supporting Israel, Stand With Us, the Israeli-American Council, and more. A diverse range of speakers spoke in favor of Israel and against recent antisemitic attacks, most immediately a group attack on Jewish diners at a Beverly Grove sushi restaurant on May 18. On Friday night, Los Angeles police arrested Xavier Pabon, a 30-year-old man from Banning, in connection with the attack. "We here in Beverly Hills stand side by side with Israel," Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, the daughter of Holocaust survivors and a supporter of a variety of Jewish and Israeli causes, told the crowd, as reported by The Jewish Journal. "We stand against antisemitism. We stand against Jew hatred. We stand against all hatred...there have been many rallies in Beverly Hills, but this is the first one that I am attending. I had to be here because this hits too close to home." Last Tuesday, the Beverly Hills City Council, all five of whom are Jewish, issued a resolution condemning the attack, all forms of discrimination, and organized attempts to boycott Israel. A diverse group attended the rally, including the former Miss Iraq Sarah Idan, who gained attention in 2017 by posting a selfie with Miss Israel; Dr. Hillel Newman, Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Southwest; Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Westwood; and conservative author Dennis Prager. Speeches varied from the expressly political in favor of Israel, to general calls against all forms of bigotry and hate. "We're not only for Israelis we're for every nation that we have around," demonstrator Guy Husany told KABC News. "We're not for war, we're for peace. We wanna make sure that everyone can see that." A smaller gathering of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered across Santa Monica Boulevard. Police separated the two groups, and no incidents were reported. Even after a ceasefire ended violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations occurred across the country and the world over the weekend, sometimes right next to each other. On Saturday, dozens of arrests occurred in New York City as pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashed. Closer to home, a group of pro-Israel protesters gathered Sunday at Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Kanan Road in Agoura Hills, while a pro-Palestinian rally occurred just a few miles away on Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. No incidents were reported. See also: Banning Man Arrested in Attack on Jewish Men Outside L.A. Eatery | Banning, CA Patch Antisemitic Attack Condemned By Beverly Hills City Council | Beverly Hills, CA Patch Attack At Beverly Grove Restaurant Investigated As Hate Crime | Los Angeles, CA Patch