Following Sunday’s violent confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters outside a synagogue in Los Angeles, President Joe Biden expressed his “appalled” outrage at the situation on Monday.
“Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American,” Biden said in an X post. It is the right of every American to peacefully protest. However, violence and the blockage of a house of worship are always unacceptable.
The Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles was the scene of a demonstration on Monday, when policemen were called to the scene of “several physical altercations” between two groups. Two batteries were reported as a result, and the investigation into both of them is underway.
The police said they arrested one person, cited them, and then let them go since their post was spiked. They went on to say that police will step up patrols near houses of worship.
On Sunday, several prominent figures voiced their opinions, such as Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who stated that “antisemitic hatred has no place in California” and that there was “no excuse for targeting a house of worship.”
Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, has spoken out about the “abhorrent” incident and has announced that she will be meeting with religious and police officials this week.
Five million dollars to extend a Holocaust teaching program and eighty million dollars for a nonprofit security grant program are among the anti-Semitism and Jewish group-supporting funds included in the budget agreement that Newsom and the leaders of the state legislature unveiled on Saturday.
A number of anti-Semitism measures, including one aimed at addressing anti-Semitism on university campuses, have been introduced in recent months by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.