I am calling on the incoming [Beverly Hills] City Council to rethink the Oct. 7 memorial.

On Oct. 7, 2023, there was a surprise invasion from Gaza to Israel that resulted in atrocities which many of us have seen and will never be able to erase from our minds. Two-hundred-and-fifty-five Israelis and others were taken into captivity in Gaza, where they were brutally raped, tortured, starved and many murdered.

The city of Beverly Hills did something unique. Whereas Israel was maligned and faulted throughout the world, Beverly Hills had a display of flags, representing the nationality of every one of those butchered that day. The flags display attracted crowds and sent a message of unity, sadness and determination in the face of evil. Hatred was stopped at the gates of Beverly Hills.

Subsequently, the council decided to erect an Oct. 7 memorial and to use our money for that purpose. While there are some pledges and donations, why should the city use public funds for this purpose? Is allocating an extremely visible location not valuable enough? Is the community not energized enough to cover the cost of such a memorial? The expenditure of public funds is simply wrong.

Beyond the cost, there is the location. What does that tell about us when the decision was to place the “monument” directly across from the 9/11 Memorial? A distraction?  Dilution? A partnership of fate? A common guilt of things that could have been avoided? To make it more meaningful, possibly it should be placed – by invitation – at close proximity to one of the churches, say in the cacti garden?

Further, if to create a monument using public funds and space, why focus on Israel and not Iran? One-third of Beverly Hills is either from Iran or direct descendants of those who left Iran following the displacement of the Shah by the Islamic Republic in January 1979.

The mayor, Dr. [Sharona] Nazarian, clearly wants a memorial. So allow me to ask our mayor two questions. One, why Oct. 7 and not Jan. 8? And maybe before erecting memorials for other people, we should look at our own history and focus on the US of A? How about the 250th anniversary of the USA, 1776-2026?

Two, why should there be any expenditure of public funds on such a memorial – whether for Israelis or Persian? Is land-in-perpetuity not enough?

The city should not spend a dime on a memorial for a calamity in another country, as close as it may be to some people’s hearts, especially mine. And where are the Jewish community and the Persian community? Why have they not come up with the necessary funds, and then some, to back up such a memorial? If they do not care enough, why would the rest of us?

So please help me understand, especially at this time of dangerous antisemitism, what are we to learn from an Oct. 7 memorial in Beverly Hills, and why should even a penny of public funds be spent on it? There should not be a permanent memorial for Oct. 7. Beverly Hills has already done more than any other city by the flags display. Let us continue to do things that are meaningful and which leave an impression. The proposed memorial is not one of them.

Ari Bussel

Beverly Hills