LOS ANGELES (AP) — Opponents of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza staged a protest this weekend that culminated in brawls and one arrest outside a Los Angeles synagogue. President Joe Biden and the city’s mayor, who called for more police patrols.
Fighting broke out Sunday between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-protesters outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The police were called in to break up the fight.
“I am shocked by the scenes outside the Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles,” Biden said in a post on social media site
In a statement, the mayor of Los Angeles said Karen Bass said the violence was “abhorrent” and that blocking access to a place of worship was unacceptable.
Bass said she asked the Los Angeles Police Department to provide additional patrols in Pico-Robertson and outside houses of worship throughout the city.
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents the area, called the violence anti-Semitic and said it was especially concerning that it happened “in front of a synagogue in the heart of the LA Jewish community.”
“Everyone has the right to protest, and everyone also has the right to be safe from fear and violence,” Yaroslavsky said in a statement.
The war between Israel and Hamas broke out in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas-led militants who killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage in southern Israel. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-ruled area. It has created a humanitarian crisis and displaced most of the area’s 2.3 million residents.
