‘No war crimes in our name,’ Jewish protesters say outside Kamala Harris’ L.A. home

Led by progressive Jewish activists for Palestinian rights, dozens of demonstrators rallied outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ Los Angeles home Thursday morning calling for an immediate ceasefire as Israel continues its bombardment of the Gaza Strip in the days since the attacks by Hamas militants.

Around 7:20 a.m., about 50 people pulled up in cars outside Harris’ home in the quiet Westside enclave of Brentwood and walked to the front gate holding signs that read “Jewish ceasefire now” and “No war crimes in our name.” Some organizers wore neon green transit vests to make sure traffic was not blocked on the two-way street.

Harris lives in the residence with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish. It’s unknown if they were home during the demonstration. A representative for Harris’ office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The demonstration, which was peaceful, was organized by IfNotNow, a left-leaning group of American Jews calling for the end of “U.S. support for Israel’s apartheid system,” according to the group’s website. Protesters on Thursday vowed not to leave until “there was a ceasefire.”

IfNotNow L.A. organizer David Shapiro kicked off chants and prayers of peace.

“We are outside the house of Kamala Harris and Douglas Emhoff asking them to join us in demanding a ceasefire,” Shapiro said. “We are American Jews with ancestors around the world. We honor our tradition rooted in the belief that human life is sacred. To achieve genuine safety for ourselves as Jews, for Israelis and for Palestinians, we need to work together toward equality and justice for all and an end to apartheid.”

Some drivers slowed to hear the message, chanting in favor of Israel. Two men from separate vehicles called the protesters “terrorists” before driving away.

A Times reporter on the scene heard a Los Angeles Police Department officer tell protesters “not to stretch police resources” by having officers arrest people. LAPD spokesperson Annie Moran confirmed that a supervisor responded about 8:20 a.m. to a citizen call about a peaceful protest in the 600 block of North Kenter Avenue.

In Washington, hundreds of demonstrators organized by IfNotNow and another progressive group, Jewish Voice for Peace, were arrested Wednesday after rallying inside a congressional building to demand a ceasefire. Capitol Police wrote on the social media platform X that demonstrations are not permitted in congressional buildings and that three people were arrested on suspicion of assault on a police officer.

“While 500 Jews, rabbis, and descendants of Holocaust survivors chant ‘Let Gaza live’ and get arrested inside, a crowd of 10k sings outside,” Jewish Voice for Peace posted on X. “We won’t stop until our demands of a ceasefire are met!”

Israel has declared war and continued to bomb and seal off the Gaza Strip, which Hamas controls, ever since Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 Israelis and taking at least 100 hostages into Gaza. At least 3,785 Palestinians, including 1,524 children and 120 older people, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza as of Thursday, and at least 12,493 have been wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.

About half of Gaza’s population, amounting to around 1 million Palestinians, have fled their homes in the north after being told to evacuate by Israeli officials. Israeli airstrikes continued across Gaza on Thursday, including in southern areas that were deemed “safe zones” by Israel.

Israel has also cut off all water, power and medical supplies into Gaza, exacerbating an existing blockade of the region. Limited humanitarian aid will be allowed from Egypt into Gaza at the request of President Biden.

Biden is expected to request $10 billion in military aid to Israel from Congress in the coming days, according to media reports. Biden has already pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank.

Harris told reporters last week in the wake of the Hamas attack that she was “completely outraged” by the “extreme acts of terrorism.”

A few days after the Hamas attack, Emhoff spoke at a roundtable at the White House with other Jewish community leaders.

“We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians. It was a terrorist assault,” he told the audience. “And there is never any justification for terrorism. There are no two sides to this issue.”

IfNotNow volunteer Asher Kaplan said that despair has been building within the Jewish community for the last few weeks. One of Kaplan’s childhood friends was nearly killed in Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7.

Yet, he said, those feelings of “grief and anguish” should not be used as a “justification for mass killing.”

“We know that the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians being conducted by Israel as we speak and supported by the United States government will not make Jews safe,” Kaplan said.

Brentwood resident Lydia Sorrentino, 53, was led to Thursday’s protest by curiosity. She had just dropped off her first-grade son at nearby Kenter Canyon Elementary School and pulled her car over near the gates of Harris’ home. The commotion came as a surprise to her.

“This is usually a very quiet neighborhood; I think this is the first time we’ve had something like this,” she said. “I had to see what was happening.”

Though Sorrentino was aware of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she said she didn’t really understand the issue.

“That’s why I’m here, to hear what’s being said and what the protest is about,” she said. Sorrentino pulled out her phone to record a couple of speeches and then headed back to her car and home.

“I have a lot to learn,” she added.