Tragic events in the Middle East cast their shadow over the City Council chamber, as Councilmembers responded to constituents devastated by the loss of friends and family to terrorist attacks in Israel. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield convened a press conference following Tuesday's Council meeting, accompanied by fellow Councilmembers, leaders of the Los Angeles Jewish community, and the Israeli Consul-General.
Council President Krekorian spoke of the massacres and hostage-taking committed by Hamas terrorists. “When the world allows this kind of atrocity to go unanswered, we invite the next atrocity," said the Council President. ”I come from a people who have been victimized by genocide. My people have recently been murdered as well in Nagorno-Karabakh when we saw the invasion and the ethnic cleansing of that region just a couple of weeks ago. When the world turns a blind eye to those sorts of atrocities, the next atrocity is almost certainly going to come soon thereafter.”
“If we want to live as a civilized world, if we want to ever have an opportunity to achieve peace in this world, then unequivocally and universally we must stand in opposition to this kind of terrorist atrocity, calling it what is.”
“I hope that all the people of Los Angeles will heed the call to support our brothers and sisters who are suffering and in pain right now, here in Los Angeles and in Israel, and recommit ourselves to stopping this kind of atrocity wherever it occurs, no matter under what circumstances it occurs, no matter what the justification, anywhere in the world.”