Thousands of people from Los Angeles, many of them UCLA students, gathered in front of the Federal Building in Westwood over the weekend to protest the situation in Gaza.
On Saturday, protesters met to show solidarity with Palestine at an event organized by the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition.
The following day, protesters supporting Israel came out to a rally organized by the pro-Israeli StandWithUs organization to denounce Hamas and show solidarity with Israel.
Both protests were part of demonstrations happening across the country in response to the escalating conflict in Gaza, which broke out Dec. 27.
Saturday afternoon, shouts of “Free, free Palestine. Palestine will be free,” resonated throughout the crowd as cars flying Palestinian flags honked in support as they drove down Wilshire Boulevard.
Protesters’ signs carried messages such as “Stop the invasion,” “No U.S. aid to Israel,” “End the siege of Gaza,” “Stop bombing children,” and “Babies are not part of Hamas.”
In a similar scene on Sunday, a new chant, “Hey, hey, ho, ho. Hamas must go,” rang through the crowd, which was waving Israeli and American flags.
Many of the Sunday protesters’ signs read, “Israel we stand with you,” “Hamas stop the rockets” and “There is a reason terrorists wear masks, they use human shields.”
Many protesters from both groups said they ultimately called for peace and expressed regret over the unfortunate number of casualties, which have reached 870 on the Palestinian side and 13 on the Israeli side, according to an Associated Press report on Sunday.
On Saturday, coffins were set out on the lawn in front of the Federal Building and were later carried into the march, which looped through the closed-off streets of Westwood Village before returning to the Federal Building.
Following the march, a sound recording of rockets and explosions was broadcast over the crowd. Participants dropped to the ground in a symbolic “die-in.”
The Los Angeles Police Department estimated that 1,500 people protested on Saturday, and a minimum of 1,600 people attended Sunday’s protest.
“We’re out here to show our support for peace and to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza,” said Faisal Attrache, president of the UCLA United Arab Society in a statement echoed by many of the protesters who came out on Saturday.
“The recent attack on Gaza has stirred up protests and marches like never before. I’m looking around, and I see people from different organizations, religions and ethnicities,” Attrache said. “This is because it’s a protest against a humanitarian crisis.”
Abdallah Jadallah, a third-year civil engineering student and president of the Muslim Students’ Association, elaborated on the crisis.
“The people of Gaza have been without food and supplies for months. Now, there are ships waiting to deliver aid to Gaza, but Israel is preventing it,” Jadallah said.
On Sunday, Shirley Eshaghian, president of Bruins for Israel, also recognized the humanitarian crisis but blamed Hamas for bringing this in large part upon its own people.
“Israel is doing what it can to drop warning leaflets before it attacks, but it is unfortunate that Hamas has been building tunnels to smuggle in arms instead of building bomb shelters for its people,” she said.
Trevor Klitofsky, director of Bruins for Israel, said what is happening in Gaza is unfortunate.
“But after Hamas launched something like 8,000 rockets, it’s inevitable that something like this would happen,” Klitofsky said.
Regarding the number of casualties, Klitofsky expressed regret, but he explained that it’s a difficult situation.
“Hamas launches rockets from schools and hospitals hoping that Israel won’t attack back, but if it does, Israel looks bad, and they gain support because women and children are dying,” Klitofsky added. “Unfortunately, Hamas benefits from this type of publicity.”
Both sides sympathized with the death of civilians, approximately third of which are children, according to a Jan. 8 United Nations report.
Yannina Casillas, a second-year international development studies student said her most important reason for joining the Saturday protest was to stand up for human lives, the human right to food, the human right to land and the human right to live.
“Both sides deserve that,” she said.
As Saturday’s march reconvened at the Federal Building, Dylan Wilkerson, a volunteer for the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, stood on the corner of Veteran and Wilshire.
“We organized this in just a week,” Wilkerson said. “I think it’s a testament to the level of rage and the changing tide in public opinion.”
Jacqueline Rafii, a fourth-year comparative literature student and a member of Bruins for Israel expressed concern over this change in public opinion.
“I felt compelled to come out today as much of the world is anti-Israel to a degree never seen before,” Rafii said. “Israel is doing what it can to avoid civilian deaths, but Hamas hides in densely populated areas.”
Still, violence from both sides continues despite worldwide pressures calling for a cease-fire.