String of California attacks suggest tensions still high over a year after October 7

A string of recent violent episodes in California suggest tensions are still running high in the state over Israel and Palestine, with one man shooting two kindergarteners at a Christian school due to American involvement in Gaza, and a Palestinian allegedly running over an Israeli in Laguna Beach after arguing at the bar.

Last week, a man described by law enforcement as “homeless” opened fire at a Seventh Day Adventist school in Oroville, wounding two kindergarteners. Law enforcement later shared the man’s writings, which said “child executions” at the school are a “necessitated response to America's involvement with Genocide and Oppression of Palestinians along with attacks towards Yemen.”

Over the weekend, Hebrew News reported an Israeli and a Palestinian got into an argument outside of a bar in Laguna Beach, which led to the Palestinian ramming his car into the Israeli after learning of his nationality.

On Sunday night, San Francisco Hillel, a center for Jewish university students, was vandalized with communist imagery and anti-Western slogans, such as the anarchy symbol, the hammer and sickle of Communism, and the phrases “death to Western imperialism” and “Khaybar.”

“Hillel House at SF State, a space for Jewish college students citywide, was targeted with antisemitic graffiti & an effort to break into the house,” said State Sen. Scott Wiener on X. “‘Khaybar’ was a place where, in 628 CE, Jews were subjugated & expelled. Jewish students continue to be targeted on our campuses.”

According to the Public Policy Institute of California’s analysis of California Department of Justice data, hate crimes in California fell over 2023 while those against Jewish and Muslim Californians increased sharply.