Beverly Hills community honors victims of Oct. 7 attack with somber remembrance ceremony
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Local community members held a somber remembrance ceremony Monday in Beverly Hills in honor of the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Beverly Hills community leaders, elected officials, religious leaders and residents gathered Monday morning at the city's Israel Flag installation at the Beverly Gardens Park for a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the attack.
"Now it's more important than ever that we unite, and serve as a voice against hate and discrimination and anti semitism," said Sharona Nazarian, Beverly Hills Vice Mayor.
The Israel Flag installation, located at the Beverly Gardens Park in Beverly Hills, features 1,400 Israeli flags from more than 30 countries. Each flag represents a victim of the Oct. 7 attacks.
The Israel Flag installation will be on display at the Beverly Gardens until Oct. 14.
"People should be remembering, I mean it wasn't just Jews, it wasn't just Israelis. It was people visiting, there was people of so many different countries," said Debbie Paperman. "If you look over the flags you'll see they're not all Israelis and even the people that are being held still are not all Israelis, are not all Jews."
Another gathering took place Monday afternoon at the Saban Theatre in Beverly HIlls. Local leaders united with the jewish community to remember the victims of the attack with candlelight and music.
"Los Angeles remembers our dead, Los Angeles remembers our hostages in the dungeons and tunnels in Gaza," said Rabbi Noah Farkas, CEO of the Jewish Federation Los Angeles.
For those in attendance, it was a night of agony and anger.
Actress Mayim Bialik said, "We say that Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the world, it's a celebration. And yet We are here to commemorate an unimaginable first, which has no elements of celebration."
Federal, state and local leaders pledged their support and commitment to the safety of the Jewish community.
"Let me be unequivocally clear, antisemitism has absolutely no place in LA," said Mayor Karen Bass.
Oct. 7 marked one year since dozens of Hamas militants crossed into Israel and opened fire at the Nova Music Festival, killing young Israelis and taking others hostage.
Israeli communities around the festival grounds also came under attack, with gunmen killing hundreds more and abducting men, women, children, and elderly. 250 people were taken hostage. Around 100 people still remain in captivity.
"We are fighting for humanity and fighting that radical Islam is not going to take over," said Israel Bachar, Consul General of Israel in Los angeles.
As the war in the middle east continues, those in attendance at the ceremony said they hope the world never forgets the atrocities of Oct. 7.
"What happened on October 7th was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust," said Paperman. "I feel like people have forgotten and I think people need to remember. Jews, non Jews, this isn't about politics, right or left, this is about humanity."
