Remembering October 7 and start of war, those impacted in Los Angeles turn to bridge building

Those in Southern California have spent this week remembering the victims of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel and the start of the war that's now claimed thousands of lives. But being over 7,000 miles away from the Middle East can be difficult, so in order to heal, those impacted here have turned to bridge building.

"It's been a hard year for a number of reasons. So many of our people have really wrestled with grief. personal grief. Losing family and losing friends and not feeling like anything is ever enough," said Aziza Hasan, the executive director of New Ground, a Muslim-Jewish partnership for change.

New Ground empowers Muslims, Jews and allies to bridge divisions and leverage shared values to strengthen our communities and our democracy. Since October 7th, new ground has expanded their work, holding hundreds of conversations and trainings - creating safe spaces for difficult conversations.

"We're a city of so many languages and people from different places. We cannot function as a city in Los Angeles without being able to work across these divides. And so, just from a pragmatic perspective, we need to be able to talk and advocate for the things we care about in a way other people can receive them and share them and listen to the other things people have to say even if it's hard so we can find a way through it together," said Hasan.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has also engaged in bridge-building this past year. Following October 7, 2023, when the L.A. Jewish community of over 600,000 felt alone and in deep pain, they turned to their allies from the city's diverse communities.

"Connect to each other based our humanity. based on universal themes. That is critical. It pushes aside the politics of the matter and building an understanding between communities. Having dialogue. Talking about the pain that each community is experiencing. We had an invitation from fame, one of the largest African American churches who invited the Jewish community to receive a prayer at their church. We had our mayor and other leaders in the community stand in solidarity. we partnered with the Asian community around the heritage month. AAPI and Jewish American Heritage month coincide in the same month and we brought hundreds of people together to understand the different communities and celebrate our uniqueness," said Joanna Mendelson, the SVP of Community Engagement at Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

The difficult work that's taken place is seen as a way to rise above the conflict and focus on hope - a hope for peace.