Oct. 7 anniversary rekindles raw emotions on L.A. campuses

The Oct. 7 anniversary has spurred emotional commemorations as well as solemn campus demonstrations in the Los Angeles area as pro-Palestinian protesters and backers of Israel recall the attack by Hamas and its continuing bloody aftermath.

A year ago today, Hamas militants in Gaza attacked Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.

Near 100 Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied outside locked gates of the USC campus on Monday on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel. The planned walk-out on the one-year anniversary of the Israeli – Hamas war started at the Trousdale / Jefferson entrance to USC and protestors marched around the campus form gate to gate as Campus security locked the gates temporarily.

(Al Seib/For The Times)

At USC, more than 100 protesters shut down the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue late Monday morning. The crowd held signs that read “Glory for the martyrs, victory to the resistance” and “Hands off Gaza.” They chanted, “Free, free Palestine.”

The group behind the action wanted to bring attention to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Lebanon and the deaths of Palestinians in the year since war broke out in the region, a graduate student told The Times.

The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, at least half of whom are women and children, have died in Israeli attacks. In Lebanon, where Israel has targeted the Hamas-allied militant group Hezbollah, hundreds have been killed and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.

The USC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which helped organize Monday’s demonstration, led the group on a march around the perimeter of the campus.

“USC is not historically a politically active school, with the stereotype of us being spoiled children and that we have no interest in social issues,” said the student, who declined to provide her name to The Times out of fear of reprisal from the university. “Our goal with USC SJP is to turn that stereotype on its head. USC students do care. They are out here for Palestinian liberation.”

University campuses have been a frequent setting for tense debate and, at times, clashes among opposing demonstrators that have turned violent. More than 200 people were arrested at UCLA in May after police moved into the pro-Palestinian encampment that had been erected on campus.

Students were also arrested at USC. They have faced official warnings on their student records and mandated essays, among other disciplinary actions, according to USC Annenberg Media.

USC faced criticism after a series of controversial moves, including canceling its May commencement, citing the protests roiling campus, and not allowing valedictorian Asna Tabassum to give a speech at graduation. Tabassum had come under fire for her pro-Palestinian views.

Some students at Pomona College in Claremont walked out of their classes shortly after 10 a.m. to call on the university to divest funds from Israel.

Hundreds of protesters had also gathered by Monday evening at UCLA, a short walk from the Fowler Museum, where a play commemorating the Oct. 7 attack was set to be held. A handful of counterprotesters were also present on campus, holding up Israeli flags and taking video of the pro-Palestinian group.

“It’s been a year since 1,200 of our family members, pretty much, have been killed,” said Tyler, a 17-year-old Los Angeles resident who declined to provide his last name to The Times. “It’s sad to see all this, especially on Oct. 7.”

UCLA’s chapter of Students for Justice In Palestine declared the week of Oct. 7 to be a “week of rage.”

The protesters have demanded UC’s divestment from Israel, the abolition of the UC police department, a prohibition against outside policy agencies entering campus, and the severing of academic ties to Israeli institutions.

A pro Israel rally at UCLA on the one-year anniversary of Hamas' Oct. 7th attack.

Later on Monday, supporters of Israel gathered at Bruin Plaza for a vigil honoring those who were killed on Oct. 7 and the hostages who had yet to return home. They held yellow roses and wore white shirts that read “10/7 Never Forget.”

Aden Awad, a UCLA senior studying biology, held a sign at the vigil honoring Gila Peled, who was among those killed Oct. 7 in Israel. The last year has felt like “the world has been turned upside down,” Awad said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in an X post on Monday, urged people to continue “prayers for safety and peace.” The mayor on Sunday marked the anniversary of the Hamas attack at a candle-lighting ceremony at the Museum of Tolerance, where she expressed her support for L.A.’s Jewish community. She said that “as conflict rises in the Middle East,” antisemitism has grown around the world.

“Let me be unequivocally clear,” she said. “Antisemitism has absolutely no place in L.A.”

Vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday visited the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Culver City. The exhibition is a remembrance of the music festival that was the setting of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Walz sighed deeply as he passed by tables adorned with shoes, hats and bags representing the victims in the attack.

“Our prayers are with the loved ones of the victims. … The people of Israel must never again face the terror that Hamas caused on October 7,” Walz said in a statement.

He noted that last month he met with families of Americans who were still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

“It’s time for a hostage deal and cease-fire that ensures Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom and self-determination,” he said.

Candles are lit to represent the victims killed during the Oct 7 attack.

Demonstrations marking the anniversary of the attack occurred across the country throughout the weekend.

On Sunday, demonstrators filled San Francisco’s Mission District to protest what they said was the oppression of Palestinians. And in Orange County, demonstrators gathered along Jeffrey Road in Irvine — one of the city’s main thoroughfares — waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags and holding signs that focused on the human cost of the war.

Times staff writers Seema Mehta, David Zahniser and the Associated Press contributed to this report.