Security tightens in Los Angeles for Jews, Palestinians

Transcript

00:00 Los Angeles County in Southern California is home to over 600,000 Jewish migrants, many

00:06 of whom have taken to the streets of La La Land to protest Hamas' brutal attacks against

00:12 innocent Israeli civilians over the weekend.

00:15 Hence LAPD, the Sheriff's Department, HPG and other law enforcement authorities have

00:21 tightened security in and around Jewish communities and synagogues and in areas where Palestinians

00:27 live and converge.

00:29 VOA's Anna Rice narrates this story of Angelina Bagdasarian.

00:35 Asherat Tsarfati, a tourist from Israel, was exploring Los Angeles with her husband and

00:43 children when she heard Hamas had fired rockets at her native country.

00:48 I live in the Southern District, just about a half an hour near to Gaza Strip.

00:55 We are very scared for our family that still lives there and not everybody have a bomber

01:01 shield against the rockets and they are afraid to go out because they are afraid that there

01:08 are still terrorists walking around.

01:11 They were supposed to fly home over the weekend, but their flight got cancelled.

01:15 Tsarfati says all she can do now is join a rally in support of Israel.

01:21 We are here, we want to protest that we are here and we are alive and we are sad for all

01:28 these people that kidnapped, that killed, that butchered, that just been lynched by

01:36 the terrorists.

01:37 We are going home on Friday and we've been able to book a flight to be able to return

01:43 home.

01:45 The Jewish community in Los Angeles consists of over 600,000 people.

01:50 The city's chief of police has promised to tighten security measures in both Jewish

01:55 and Muslim areas, fearing attacks on both communities following the week's events.

02:00 To show their support for Israel, the city's mayor's office was lit up with white and

02:05 blue, the colors of Israel's flag.

02:08 The Jewish community of LA has been holding rallies like this one since October 7th, the

02:13 day Hamas attacked Israel.

02:16 This rally, attended by thousands of people, is held in Beverly Hills, an area popular

02:21 with the Jewish community.

02:23 Most of these people have family or relatives back in Israel.

02:27 I'm feeling devastated for my family in Israel.

02:31 My brother is a soldier in Israel and he's going into Gaza probably.

02:36 And I'm feeling so devastated, like my heart is totally breaking and that I couldn't be

02:43 with my family right now.

02:45 My cousin missing from Saturday morning and we don't know how is he.

02:52 I have several relatives and friends whose children are now in the army and they do not

03:00 know when they talk to them again, when they see them again.

03:04 We feel helpless and shocked.

03:06 And this is all we can do here to show our support.

03:10 Los Angeles police have increased the number of officers in the street and they expect

03:15 the rallies to become even more numerous over the weekend.

03:19 From Angelina Bagdasarian in Los Angeles, California, NRA's Violey News.