Rally ends in gunfire at Federal Building

This post was updated on July 14 at 8:02 p.m.

A Department of Homeland Security officer fired a shot at four pro-Palestinian counter-protesters in a truck during a pro-Israel rally in Westwood early Sunday evening.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant William Nash said at the scene later Sunday night that a confrontation between passengers in two vehicles, one supporting Israel and another supporting Palestine, had evolved into a physical altercation.

The Department of Homeland Security officer observed it and tried to stop the conflict, leading to gunfire, Nash said.

The shooting took place around 5:45 p.m. near the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard, Nash said. He added no one was hurt and the Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident, although a pro-Palestine counter-protester showed the Daily Bruin an injury on his leg he said he received during the protest.

Four pro-Palestine counter-protesters were arrested Sunday night and booked at the Sheriff’s Department’s West Hollywood station for unknown charges. Their names were not immediately available. The officer who fired a gun was not arrested, Nash said.

The incident occurred after hundreds of protesters gathered in two separate rallies in Westwood over the weekend to address the Israel-Palestine conflict in response to both sides exchanging fire in recent days.

A few hundred pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through Westwood Saturday afternoon to protest recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and the resulting civilian casualties. The following day, more than a thousand pro-Israel demonstrators picketed in front of the Federal Building in Westwood Sunday afternoon to urge Hamas to stop launching rockets into Israel.

Israel has been launching air strikes, missiles and ground troops while Hamas, which is considered by the U.S. to be a terrorist organization and has governed the Gaza Strip for the last few years, has been launching rockets into Israel since early July. The most recent attacks from Israel began after three Israeli teenagers were abducted and killed last month in the West Bank. Last week, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and killed by suspected Jewish extremists, reportedly as a form of revenge, further fueling the conflict.

As of Monday, more than 180 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, a majority of whom were civilians. About 1,400 Palestinians have been injured. Meanwhile, Israel’s missile defense system, known as the “Iron Dome,” has been able to intercept many of the rocket strikes launched by Hamas, and to date no Israeli casualties have been reported. Still, several Israeli citizens were injured by the attacks.

Some protesters on Saturday said they think Israeli air strikes targeted Palestinian civilians who had no involvement in the kidnapping.

“I condemn the killing (of Israeli teenagers), but what is the point of killing innocent children and women who have never done anything?” said Rasha Howlader, a fourth-year electrical engineering student and member of Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA.

Howlader said she sees the conflict as a human rights issue and that it was a gut reaction for her to protest.

Many protesters on Saturday held up pictures of Palestinian children injured by the bombings, along with Palestinian flags and picket signs.

“Our grandparents had their home taken away and occupied by the Israeli settlement,” said Jordan Carnaggino, who came from her home in Irvine to participate. “They were told (by the Israeli government) they had a day to get out of their home.”

Carnaggino, whose mother is Palestinian, said most of her family members have had to leave Palestine in recent years because it has become too dangerous for them to live there.

On Sunday more than a thousand protesters, many holding Israeli flags, stood on the corner of Wilshire and Veteran Boulevards as passing cars honked to show their support.

A small counter-protest across the street, attended by about a hundred supporters of Palestine, also took place on one of the street corners.

Ariella Benji, a fourth-year psychology student who attended the Sunday protest, said she came to show support for Israel’s right to protect itself.

“The conflict scares me on a personal level,” Benji said. “(And the) kidnapping was a tipping point.”

James Chavez, a fourth-year student at California State University, Northridge, said he came because he has relatives in Israel and he thinks there are misconceptions about Israel. He said he thinks Israel is not trying to attack Palestinian civilians like many claim.

“Israel is attacking Palestine’s militants and Palestine is attacking Israeli citizens,” he said. “I care about the death toll, but the intention also matters.”

No further protests have been planned for the Westwood area.