Over 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters flocked to Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles on October 5 to commemorate the lives lost since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023.
Led by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and more than 10 other pro-Palestinian organizations, participants marched down Broadway and surrounding streets from 2 to 5 p.m., two days before the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. LAPD officers observed the crowd and no arrests were made during the demonstration.
On the same day, thousands of people marched in and around Times Square, The White House, Chicago Water Tower Park and at protests organized by the PYM at over 55 landmarks across the U.S.
Similar protests unfolded across major cities around the globe, including London, Paris, Rome and Cape Town.
Protesters in L.A., many wearing keffiyehs or clothing adorned with the Palestinian flag, chanted “free Palestine,” and “arms embargo now,” accompanied by the beating of hand-held drums. They also marched with flags and banners that read “end the war on Gaza and Lebanon” and “end weapons shipment to Israel now.”
“We have struggled for a hundred years, we will struggle for a hundred more, if that’s what it takes to free Palestine!” chanted one of the PYM leaders.
Thawra Khalid, a PYM organizer, said people showed up to commemorate the “one-year resistance against genocide.”
“We have seen Israel bombing houses, neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, places of refuge,” Khalid said. “As a Palestinian youth living in the diaspora, it’s my responsibility to continue the fight for the liberation of my people and my land.”
Over the last year, Khalid said she has driven several hours to attend multiple protests, before spending even more hours walking and marching on the streets.
Khalid said that the Israel-Hamas war is not a one-yearlong conflict, but a 76-yearlong “genocide” and “land occupation” of Palestinian people.
“My father was a refugee in 1967. My grandmother was a refugee in 1948,” Khalid said. “I am only two generations away from what we call Al Nakba, which is the start of colonization in 1948.”
Her family history is interwoven with the long standing conflict between Israel and Palestine. When Jewish leaders declared the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forcibly displaced, known as Al Nakba, or the “catastrophe.”
In 1967, Israel initiated the Six-Day War and occupied the West Bank, and hundreds of thousands more Palestinians fled.
Maya Abdallah, a junior studying film at UCLA, stayed over three hours until the end of Saturday’s protests. She said every day of the last year has been both “the most uplifting and the most depressing.”
“Every day I feel we make a little bit of progress, but at the same time, I can still see the tragedies that are happening,” she said.
Seanan Kenney, a local artist, said he has been vocalizing his support for Palestinians by protesting since late 2023. Months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Kenney recorded a podcast to show his support of Palestinians. Kenney said he was warned that he might get blacklisted in the film industry if he kept speaking out in favor of Palestine, but he said this only strengthened his resolve.
“The more resistance I face, the more I want to come out,” Kenney said. “People are starving and going homeless every day because America would rather invest in weapons than its citizens.”
Carolfrances Likins, a retired teacher, attended a pro-Palestinian protest in L.A. on September 26, where a group of demonstrators blocked the intersection beside the Wilshire Federal Building. Likins also said she had previously traveled to both the West Bank and Gaza.
“I cannot sit back while my government is funding genocide, first in Gaza and the West Bank and now moving it into Lebanon,” she said. “How could I not be here?”
Another protestor, Xodiak Rose, held a sign that contained Marcellus Williams’ last words, “All Praises Be To Allah in Every Situation” at the September 26 protest.
Rose wrote the banner in remembrance of Williams, a poet who had written work meant to encourage Palestinians. Williams was executed on September 24, despite widespread doubt regarding the validity of his conviction.
Rose is the co-founder of QueerX, an organization that aims to uplift LGBTQ+ people. Rose joined the protest as a representative of the organization to speak out for LGBTQ+ people living in Palestine.
Nadia Mehanna, another PYM organizer, said they believe there is still hope for an end to what they call a “genocide.”
Reflecting on the past year, Mehanna said they have taken to the streets several times in L.A. and other cities across the U.S., “to demand not only an end to the genocide but a full arms embargo against Israel.”
They said that while protesting and advocating for Palestinians can be exhausting, the difficulty can sometimes be a source of energy.
“I think every Palestinian feels at some point demoralized or frustrated with what’s going on, Mehanna said. “But I believe that’s what fuels us to keep showing up.”