BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—Beverly Hills elected and community leaders gathered early Monday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, holding a solemn memorial at a park that displays roughly 1,200 flags—one for each person who lost their lives in the attack.
“Beverly Hills is more than just glitz, glamour, and luxury,” Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Sharona R. Nazarian stated during the pre-dawn ceremony at Beverly Gardens Park on Santa Monica Boulevard. “Our community stands in solidarity, and we will not allow terror or hate to manipulate us.”
The park has been adorned with hundreds of flags since January. During the memorial service on Monday, the city revealed signs designating the area as “October 7th Memorial Square.”
Several events were planned across the area on Monday to mark the anniversary of the attacks.
The Jewish Federation Los Angeles will host a program at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on Monday evening, aimed at remembering the victims and honoring the resilience of survivors.
Organized by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, Israeli-American Council, StandWithUs, and Temple of the Arts, the event titled “L.A. Remembers” will have doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Among the expected attendees are actress Mayim Bialik, Israeli actress Moran Atias, Israeli performer Raviv Kaner, as well as over 30 elected officials including Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
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A candle-lighting ceremony and speeches from relatives of hostages will also be part of the event.
“Coming together to commemorate October 7th offers all of us an opportunity to gather strength as we share a sense of community that supports Israel and fights to keep the faces of the hostages front and center in everyone’s hearts until they all come home to their families,” stated Roz Rothstein, founder and CEO of StandWithUs.
Meanwhile, IfNotNow Los Angeles will gather at downtown’s Gloria Molina Grand Park, with “hundreds of American Jews” expected to attend to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks and the subsequent “brutal collective punishment by the Israeli government” over the past year. The event scheduled for 6 p.m. aims to “remind elected officials and fellow Americans that violence is antithetical to Jewish values and that it will never keep any of us safe.”
On Sunday, the Jewish Federation Los Angeles hosted a reception and candle-lighting ceremony at the Museum of Tolerance Los Angeles.
“It was not the last chapter of my life,” shared Andrey Kozlov, who was held hostage for eight months and a day, during the event that coincided with the exact moment of the Oct. 7 attacks.
“Something better is coming, and here I am with lots of opportunities. I became some kind of voice of hostages, and I am able to speak.”
Mayor Karen Bass stated, “Today, we must continue our prayers for safety and peace. As conflict rises in the Middle East, we often see a troubling rise in antisemitism around the world, including here in L.A. So let me be unequivocally clear—antisemitism has absolutely no place in L.A.”
