Dueling Israel, Palestine Rallies Result in Skirmishes in Santa Clarita

SANTA CLARITA, CA, Oct. 10 (KNN) — The surprise early morning attack on Israeli citizens by the Palestinian group Hamas during a Jewish holiday, left dozens dead and many taken hostage this past Saturday. Worldwide reaction prompted dueling rallies of support for Israel as well as Palestine.

In the city of Santa Clarita on Tuesday evening around 5:15 p.m., dueling rallies took place outside Santa Clarita City Hall on the 23000 block of Valencia Boulevard where a series of skirmishes over tensions between Israelis and Palestinians came to a boil.

Pepper spray was launched by Palestinian supporters into several Jewish supporters after a rally spilled over into another.

The rallies dueled across the street from one another.

Rabbi Jay Siegel, with Temple Beth Shalom, Santa Clarita, spoke in front of the crowd gathered at city hall regarding the devasting events unfolding in Israel. “We are stronger together,” Siegel said. “We are a people of hope…the hope we can live in freedom without aggression, without violence, without it happening again. Is that too much to ask?”

Robert Hershenson, a Santa Clarita resident, was interviewed by Key News Network at the rally and said this is “not an act of war but an act of terror.”

“The reason that it was important for us to come out tonight was not to have a counter protest, not to argue with anybody…was to show our support. So many people in Israel, they don’t feel like they have support from anywhere else in the world. So us being here as a community and celebrating and praying and being with them, hopefully they feel not alone.”

Samuel Austin Weiss, also a Santa Clarita resident, spoke with KNN at the rally and became very emotional as he spoke about his friends in Israel going out to war, and how they were sending messages to their families. He knows so many people fighting “for our land.”

“I would love to believe that we could coexist. I would love to believe that if we just don’t have Hamas and Isis, that we could coexist. I would love for that to happen one day…for us to have a nation united once again.”

Austin Dave, Video Journalist / KNN