Councilmember Chelsea Byers spoke out publicly for the first time on the Israel/Hamas war at City Council’s Monday night meeting, expressing grief for loss of life on both sides of the conflict.
“This has been a devastating week for so many of us caring for people in harm’s way,” Byers said. “It’s not enough that climate change-related and naturally occurring disasters continue to devastate the planet; more than 2,000 Afghani lives, including 90% women and children, were taken by an earthquake just this past week alone. But man-made bloodshed has us reeling. I’m grieving the killed Israelis and Palestinians and all the pain throughout our community and around the globe. I stand firmly against violence and oppression in all forms, be it bombing or terror at any and all scales.”
Apart from a temporary story posted to her Instagram page, the councilwoman had been noticeably silent since Hamas launched a bloody pogrom Oct. 7 which triggered Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza. An outspoken critic of the Israeli government’s treatment of the Palestinians, Byers faced renewed accusations of antisemitism when she did not immediately condemn Hamas’ actions.
Her comments Monday night showed equal sympathy for the dead, but her fears were clearly focused on the lives of the Palestinians now caught in the crossfire.
“My heart breaks for our vast Jewish community here in West Hollywood and throughout Los Angeles, who had already been grappling with rising antisemitic violence, compounding historic traumas of exile and fear,” Byers said. “And for our community and my friends with deep ties to Israel, too many of whom have had loved ones killed on last week’s religious holiday. My heart breaks for our community and friends whose family in Palestine continue to face escalating violence and lack of humanitarian aid.”
Chelsea Byers fancies herself as having been a community organizer. Perhaps she believed she could emulate the path of former President Barack Obama who was involved in Community Organizing prior to his education at Harvard and as a Representative in the Legislature. Community Organizing does not require a degree and there are no formal minimum educational requirements. They are able to earn from $46,000 to $73,500. She has apparently little to no world experience having moved to West Hollywood from Northern Arizona University fairly recently having spent time as a campus organizer and Training Coordinator in various causes. Did she… Read more »
Ok, how about grieving because of the Palestinians.
Good for Chelsea for standing with all people and not their corrupt governments. Condemning war crimes in both sides is the principled position.
NO. IT. ISN’T!
There are times you have to take a definite position, and this is absolutely one of those times!
Hamas is nothing less than evil tyrants. Israel’s only mistake is having ever appeased the Palestinians even a little bit. This is what they get for showing any mercy or generosity at all.
Wow, I agree with you West!
For some reason, the WeHo TV video on YouTube cuts her speech off towards the end. I didn’t get to hear everything, but it sounded like a bunch of nonsense that she found on someone’s social media. She needs to use AI next time. And learn to talk without just reading a script.
I noticed this as well and emailed Lauren Langer about it. Here is her response:
“Mr. Seegmiller,
The video actually reflects the full City Council meeting. The power went out on the entire city block during Councilmembers Byers comments, and the meeting was immediately adjourned. There were no additional comments made by the City Council inside the Chambers after the power went out. The meeting minutes will reflect this power outage and time of adjournment.
Lauren”
Strange. How often does City Council suffer rolling blackouts??
Ms Byers has a different view on Israel. Good for her! The Palestinians have been mistreated forever. The current prime minister is a rightwing religious fanatic. They close the whole country down on Saturday. So if you’re a Palestinian Christian you are subjected to this religious Saturday claptrap. The two hospitals recently destroyed were Anglican Episcopalian hospitals. Meister and Horvath attempted to block this film being shown in West Hollywood…. Watch 1948; Creation and Catastrophe. It’s on Amazon.
I believe Meister in fact voted for the film to be screened, in the interest of free speech. That is my memory of events as I was in attendance. It’s worth revisiting the voting record.
At first it was going to be banned, then there was such an uproar it was to be seen. It was covered by Wehoville and you can research it.
Because Palestinian children are taught at the earliest age to hate Jews, not only in schools but even in children’s games and TV cartoons, it’s a safe bet that every Palestinian citizen celebrates the destruction of Israel and any Jewish casualty. They are expert propagandists and are willing to kill hundreds of their own people if they can make it look like Israel did it. These dead Palestinian citizens Chelsea grieves for danced in the streets in celebration at the news of our dead on Sept. 11, 2001.
The now dead innocent Palestinian babies and children were not even born when 9/11 happened. And now that the United States has gotten into the fray, it will only serve to enrage all of the Arab world possibly resulting in a worse 9/11 for us. We give almost $4 Billion to Israel in Foreign Aid each year which, to me, is disproportionate in relation to other countries. This is a very difficult and complex issue.As an independent, I try to understand all viewpoints from all involved parties. I absolutely condemn the horrific assualt on Israel by Hamas which, unfortunately, escaped… Read more »
Just what do you expect Israel to do? Israel has shown massive restraint. Israel was attacked, just as they have been countless times before. Israel did NOT bomb that hospital killing 500 people. It has been suggested that Hamas accidentally misfired and killed those citizens, but they have been known to kill their own people and then blame it on Israel just to get sympathy from people like you. Israel gives Palestinian citizens 24 hour notices to get out of their homes because Israel is going to bomb that area, but Hamas either won’t let them leave or convinces them… Read more »
Just make sure the trash is picked up, and the pot holes repaired. The world doesn’t care what some dingbat in WH thinks about anything.
Byers is disturbingly incapable of a standalone statement unequivocally condemning Hamas.
Shame on you, Chelsea Byers. I completely reject you as a council member. You are complicit in the murders of the Israelis.
Altruistic at best. Must have been a real struggle for her to come up with this statement over a ten day period. She still has a lot of convincing to do with actions, if she wants to be believed, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for anything of substance.
The very meekest and weakest statement possible shrouded in false sentiments. This individual does not have the courage of her own convictions for if she did she would have stood with the Palestinians and taken whatever heat forthcoming.