Palestinian supporters responded negatively to a statement from LBCC denouncing the violence in Israel on Saturday, which resulted in the deaths of 1,000 people.
When asked if they predicted such a big backlash on this statement, Stacey Toda declined to comment.
The statement was released Monday after the news about the Palestians attack on Israel where Hamas, the military group in Palestine, attacked Israel by breaking down one of the borders that Israel had put up to keep Palestinians in their land.
The statement was emailed to students at Long Beach City College and also posted on the college’s Instagram (@lbcitycollege). The statement states that they ‘condemn the recent acts of terrorism in Israel.”
The comments in the Instagram post are mainly in support of Palestine. Whether it was a “Free Palestine” comment, people urging LBCC to do more research, or gifs to show their support for Palestine, the outcry against Israel is seen.
Maddie Repcik, a student at Cypress College, commented on the post in support of Palestine saying “ israel is a country backed by BILLIONS of us dollars!! while palestinian freedom fighters just want their land back and don’t want to die at the hands of white settlers.”
“I was taken aback by it,” Maddie said, “it seems really hypocritical when people support Ukrainians, but are not in support of Palestine.”
Annahita Mahdavi West (@drannahitamahdaviwest), a human services addiction studies professor at LBCC, also commented on the post.
Screenshot of LBCC’s statement on the war in Israel and the comments of outcry. The statement was posted on Oct. 9 in LBCC’s Instagram(@lbcitycollege). 
Screenshot of LBCC’s statement on the war in Israel and the comments of outcry. The statement was posted on Oct. 9 in LBCC’s Instagram(@lbcitycollege). 
Screenshot of LBCC’s statement on the war in Israel and the comments of outcry. The statement was posted on Oct. 9 in LBCC’s Instagram(@lbcitycollege).
“Long Beach City College doesn’t stand for justice for all rather ‘selective justice for some’ Just last year they fired a Black woman who worked in lbcc for 10 years with remarkable evaluations over false accusations and didn’t care about 90% of faculty petitioning for her. But they get busy creating red carpet and hall of fame events!! The top down culture of LBCC’s administration is not a secret to anyone The administration and board of trustees (some not all) are more performative advocates who are working on their own upward mobility This statement is not far from the mindset and the culture of “selective justice” of LBCC.”
The terrorists Hamas killing and kidnapping the Innocent people of Israel is a war crime. And Israel blanket bombing the innocent citizens of Gaza who have no place to go, shutting power and water on them, are war crimes too. If you stand only for a one sides justice you’re not standing for justice at all!!,” Mahdavi said.
Another comment that can be found under the post is from Long Beach City College’s former interim Superintendent-President Lou Anne Bynum.
“Yes, this is horrific terrorism against a country. But does this mean that LBCC will now weigh in against all terrorist acts? Ukraine? Armenians? Migrants?,” she said responding to the post.
Shafi Shahriar (@shafishriarr) commented under the post with a quote from Malcolm X stating “If you are not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people being oppressed, and loving those doing the oppressing.”
When asked for a statement Mike Munoz, the Superintendent and President of Long Beach City College, stated that Stacey Toda, the head of Public Relations at Long Beach City College, would put the official statement from Long Beach City College.
The official statement that Stacey Toda published on behalf of Long Beach City College read as follows:
“We stand by our statement on the war in Israel. The impacts of this senseless violence are felt by members of our Israeli and Palestinian communities at home and abroad, and our hearts go out to all those affected by the inhumanity of war. We respect the First Amendment and the expression of opinions in the comments to the extent that they do not constitute hate speech of any kind.”
Many other colleges have not commented on the attack in Israel. If there is a comment it instead comes from a place of support for both Palestinian and Israeli students.
Kathryn E. Jeffery, the superintendent-president at Santa Monica College, released a letter offering services for both employees and students and urge them to take care of their well-beings, while also stating that the colleges International Education Center reached out to their Israeli and Palestinian visa students to offer support both mentally, academically, as well as help with their visas.
Other colleges like Cypress College refuse to release a statement so as to not upset any students.