The humanitarian crisis in Gaza as air strikes continue is prompting grief, survivors’ guilt, and “bringing back a lot of baggage.” Seeing a need for support, a mosque and school in Garden Grove have incorporated mental health into their programming.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Topline:
Seeing the images coming out of Gaza is “retraumatizing” for Arab American and Muslim communities. Muslim schools and mosques are taking steps to help people cope.
Why it matters: Some who came as refugees carry trauma from wars and violence in their home countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. For others, it’s experiencing anti-Muslim hate during 9/11 and other incidents that have added to the collective trauma of living as Muslims and Arab Americans in the U.S., said Marwa Azab, a psychology professor at California State University Long Beach, said
Why now: With the pictures and videos coming out of Gaza, and in some cases personal loss, unresolved trauma has left the community “bleeding” emotionally, Azab said, “and there's no healing that's going to start if the bleeding doesn’t stop.”
What's next: Azab has been giving talks at local mosques and around the community on what she calls “psychological resilience.” She tries to help people understand the trauma they are holding onto, and offers tips for coping with the distressing news. An important one is limiting one’s time checking the news or on social media.
Every Friday night, the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove becomes a gathering place. Children in the Muslim Youth Group meet to learn about their Islamic faith, then play and socialize on the mosque grounds. The adults unwind and catch up after a long week, seated under fairy lights around long tables.
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News From Gaza Is Rekindling Trauma For Muslim Communities In Southern California
Until not long ago, the atmosphere here was typically lighthearted and relaxed. But the mood has changed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel that claimed 1,200 lives, and Israel’s subsequent air strikes on Gaza, where as many as 19,000 people have since died.
Now these gatherings serve a bigger purpose: a supportive space for families to grieve and share very difficult feelings, as they cope with the images of destruction and loss.
Children play during recess Orange Crescent School located on the grounds of the Garden Grove mosque.
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The Islamic Society of Orange County serves thousands of Muslims with prayer, educational, and counseling services, including a youth group.
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Families visit the mosque from as far away as Redondo Beach and Pasadena, seeking community and respite. Parents talked while the children made posters using black, white, red and green paint, the colors of the Palestinian flag.
In one room crowded with kids, Tala Haddad held up a megaphone, belting out instructions for how to make bracelets. Haddad, 19, is a youth group coordinator with the mosque; each Friday she leads a group of kids ages 4 to 12. These days, she said, the goal is to give them a safe space to process feelings that may arise from watching the news, or from absorbing parents’ emotions at home.
“A really important thing is having those conversations so that they're not just hearing things and having it stick with them,” Haddad said. “So … we have been allowing the kids to speak their mind within reason, and we're giving them an outlet to talk to their youth group mentors, to talk to their parents. The parents are able to talk to us as well to ask for advice.”
Two teens attend Friday midday prayer at the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove.
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Parents have been struggling, too. Among the dads volunteering that night was Ramsey Nashef, a Palestinian American born and raised in Orange County. He said as the father of two girls, 9 and 2, images he’s seen of dead and wounded children in Gaza have been haunting him.
“I have never been this vulnerable before, like, being emotional and crying, this is something that's not normal to me,” Nashef said. “I just see myself breaking down and I'm like, my mental health is just kind of messed up at the moment.”
Ramsey Nashef, a Palestinian American father and graphic artist from Orange County, pictured with one of his paintings of a Palestinian boy throwing a stone.
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Nashef said he’s felt a duty to check for news, as much as it hurts.
“For me, as a Palestinian, I felt the need and out of respect to have to watch it,” he said.
Every morning, he said, it has felt “almost like I was torturing myself” as he logs in to watch videos of the devastation on Instagram.
A unique trauma
Seeing the images coming out of Gaza is “retraumatizing” for Arab American and Muslim communities, said Marwa Azab, a psychology professor at California State University Long Beach.
“It’s kindling and bringing back a lot of baggage that (was) hidden for a long time, we thought we dealt with,” Azab said.
A little boy looks down at the men during Friday prayer at the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Friday prayer at the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Some who came as refugees carry trauma from wars and violence in their home countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. For others, Azab said it’s experiencing anti-Muslim hate during 9/11 and other incidents that have added to the collective trauma of living as Muslims and Arab Americans in the U.S.
Hundreds of people attend Friday midday prayer at the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Now, with the pictures and videos coming out of Gaza, and in some cases personal loss, unresolved trauma has left the community “bleeding” emotionally, Azab said, “and there's no healing that's going to start if the bleeding doesn’t stop.”
‘Psychological resilience’
Azab has been giving talks at local mosques and around the community on what she calls “psychological resilience.” She tries to help people understand the trauma they are holding onto, and offers tips for coping with the distressing news.
An important one is limiting one’s time checking the news or looking at social media.
“They have to have a budget in terms of looking at these videos, because they will very quickly run into compassion fatigue,” Azab said. “Where the people they love and they desperately need to connect with, they won't be able to.”
Marwa Azab, a psychology professor at California State University Long Beach.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Psychology and mental health books in Marwa Azab's home office.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Being able to remain emotionally present for one’s family is key, she said. Timing news consumption is important, too, she said, because disturbing news can keep one up at night.
For intrusive thoughts during the day that interfere with work or school, Azab recommends writing those on a sticky note — and coming back to them later.
Azab also says people right now feel like they can’t express their grief, for fear of being misjudged — so community is important.
A FEW COPING TIPS
Budget time for checking news and social media
Be mindful of when you check (Will this news keep me up at night?)
Write down intrusive thoughts on a sticky note, to return to later (i.e., ‘I'll attend to you after I'm done studying’)
Have a support system: have potlucks, see friends, meet at the mosque or community center
Stress on kids and parents
During recess one recent afternoon at the Orange Crescent School, on the grounds of the Garden Grove mosque, the sounds of laughter and children playing tag filled the air. Some kids kicked around a soccer ball, others played basketball. The tall steel fence around the campus was covered with posters expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza.
Children play during recess at Orange Crescent School located on the grounds of the Garden Grove mosque.
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School principal Maisa Youssef said that in the weeks following the Hamas attack, and Israel’s subsequent declaration of war, she began seeing a shift in the school community. The murder of 6-year-old Palestinian American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume in Chicago, which authorities are investigating as a hate crime, left students and parents feeling “definitely scared,” she said, “wondering if they are able to go to the store.” All of this has put undue stress on the kids.
“We've actually seen a decline” in children’s behavior, Youssef said. “I think kids are just in another space realizing they're still processing.”
Maisa Youssef, principal of Orange Crescent School. It's located on the grounds of the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove.
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A mural outside of a classroom at the Orange Crescent School located on the grounds of the Garden Grove mosque.
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As for the parents, Youssef said, sometimes they “don't want to talk, separating themselves from kids, being extra snappy, just kind of wanting to be alone.”
The school has shifted gears to incorporate mental health programming alongside lessons. The school recently hosted Azab to speak with parents, and has brought in mental health experts to speak with children and teachers as well.
Giving children ways to cope
Tala Haddad, the youth group leader at the Garden Grove mosque, is Palestinian American. Her parents came to the U.S. as refugees and settled in Orange County, where she was born and raised.
Between coaching the kids at the recent Friday night gathering, Haddad talked about how she feels a sense of survivors’ guilt when she thinks about how people in Gaza are living now. The vast majority of the population has been displaced amid the continuing airstrikes, and there is a lack of access to clean water. Recent flooding has made things worse.
“Anytime I do anything I feel so immensely guilty whether it's little things like driving and knowing I'm gonna get to my destination safe,” she said. “Or putting my food in the microwave and knowing I'm having a warm meal.”
Children's backpacks hang outside of a classroom at the Orange Crescent School, located on the grounds of the Garden Grove mosque.
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As a child, her family tuned in to in-language television news reports of violence in the Middle East. On TV Haddad would see “gruesome pictures of kids that were just like me” who had been killed. Then, on her drive to school, she said she would hear on the radio “these people deserve it, these people are terrorists, these people — they don't want peace, they want chaos.”
This trauma followed her through childhood, she said. All through school, she would tell classmates she was Jordanian “because I felt like if I opened the door to being Palestinian, it would open so much resentment for myself and my family.”
“It definitely felt like a really, really heavy burden to carry,” Haddad said. “And I think that I carried that with me my entire youth.”
Now, as a youth coordinator, she wants to help children have an outlet for their emotions and a safe space to ask their questions.
These children, she said, should not have to carry a burden, “it's not like they’re to blame for anything.”
First artifacts installed in LA museum's expansion
Makenna Sievertson
has been covering space shuttle Endeavour's journey at the California Science Center since December 2023.
Published November 18, 2025 4:08 PM
The first of many artifacts have been installed in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery, including a space shuttle main engine (right) and a solid rocket booster segment.
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Topline:
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Why it matters: Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet that will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
Why now: The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
The backstory: It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
What's next: Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
Read on ... for a peak inside the expansion coming to Exposition Park.
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Once complete, the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will include multi-level galleries built around a towering centerpiece — the space shuttle Endeavour — displayed in its 20-story vertical launch position.
It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
Museum admission will be free.
Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
“The enthusiasm that people have when they come in and see this stuff and get excited about it will hopefully lead to many more people, young and old, but particularly young people wanting to pursue more education in science,” Rudolph told LAist.
Museum officials expect to announce next year an opening date, according to Rudolph.
A look inside the center
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will feature three main galleries: the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
Guests will be guided through hundreds of exhibits and authentic artifacts focused on the exploration of the universe — including rocket ships that carried humans into space and telescopes used to view stars and galaxies beyond our reach.
A real Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach spans several stories tall in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
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The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
Adam Spice, chief financial officer of Rocket Lab, told LAist the Electron helped lower the cost of getting to space by sending satellites in smaller, cheaper rockets. The new center is an opportunity to get up close and personal with an Electron for the first time outside of a factory.
Spice said he hopes it’ll show visitors their dreams can become a reality.
“They can be part of something much bigger than probably they ever thought they could,” he said.
The first artifacts installed in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center include a solid rocket booster segment. Kenneth Phillips, aerospace curator, shows the scale of the piece, which has flown into space several times.
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The solid rocket booster segment will become a walk-through interactive experience in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
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A segment of a solid rocket booster that flew into space several times is laid on its side on the second floor of the gallery.
Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center’s aerospace curator, told LAist it’ll be turned into an interactive exhibit with audio, video and educational graphics.
“It's 12 feet in diameter, so people can actually walk through it and learn about the function of it from the inside out literally,” Phillips said.
Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with a space shuttle main engine.
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A detailed model of a space shuttle main engine is set up next to the solid rocket booster. Three of those main engines helped boost space shuttles into orbit by providing about 20% of their power, Phillips said.
What's next
Construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center started more than three years ago and is on track to be completed in the coming weeks, according to museum officials.
With construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center weeks away from completion, crews have started to put in landscaping around the outside of the expansion.
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Makenna Sievertson
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The exterior of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center as of Tuesday.
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The remaining exhibits and artifacts will then be installed over "many months," Rudolph said. Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
The California Science Center also is looking to raise about $70 million more for the $450 million project before it opens. You can learn more about its “EndeavourLA” fundraising campaign here.
Matt Dangelantonio
directs production of LAist's daily newscasts, shaping the radio stories that connect you to SoCal.
Published November 18, 2025 3:58 PM
The Westwood Village Theater will be operated and programmed by American Cinematheque when it opens
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George Rose
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Topline:
The group of directors restoring the Village Theater in Westwood are tapping film nonprofit American Cinematheque to program and run the venue when it opens.
Why it matters: American Cinematheque also programs the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Los Feliz Theater, making it a visible and active film arts nonprofit in the industry.
The backstory: The nearly century-old movie palace went up for sale in 2024 before Village Directors Circle bought it in February. The group is comprised of more than 30 notable filmmakers. They're led by director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno) and their ranks include Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Lulu Wang, Chloé Zhao, Christopher Nolan and Ryan Coogler.
What's next: VDC says it's eyeing a 2027 opening for the Village Theater, and is currently in the quiet phase of a capital campaign to raise $25 million to restore and remodel the Village Theater into a more than 1,000-seat venue.
For January fire survivors looking for fresh start
Gillian Morán Pérez
is an associate producer for LAist’s early All Things Considered show.
Published November 18, 2025 3:46 PM
Residents embrace in front of a fire-ravaged property after the Palisades Fire swept through in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 8.
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Topline:
The city of Long Beach has launched a new jobs program to help people affected by January’s fires.
Who is it for? The initiative will provide paid career opportunities and financial assistance to people looking for a fresh start in Long Beach.
To start, 10 people will get up to 300 hours of paid work experience with local employers. Another five people also will get training scholarships of up to $7,500 in high-demand fields like health care and information technology.
Who's paying for it? The initiative is funded by a $130,000 federal act called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
How to apply: Anyone interested in applying can contact Nakawa Shepherd, Career Center manager, Economic Development and Opportunity, at Nakawa.Shepherd@longbeach.gov or visit the LBWIN Adult Career Services Center.
How to participate: Long Beach’s Economic Development and Opportunity office also is looking for local employers to provide on-the-job training for applicants.
Jacob Margolis
covers science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters.
Published November 18, 2025 2:51 PM
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows Jonathan Rinderknecht, who has been accused of setting a fire that led to the Palisades Fire.
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The man accused of igniting a fire that led to the deadly and destructive Palisades Fire in January will remain in custody without bond, U.S. Judge Rozella Oliver decided Tuesday in Los Angeles. Jonathan Rinderknecht has been in custody since his arrest in Florida on Oct. 7.
Where things stand: Rinderknecht was indicted by a federal grand jury in October and is charged with one count of arson, one count of timber set afire and one count of destruction of property by means of fire. Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty in mid-October and faces anywhere from five to 45 years in federal prison if convicted. His trial is set to begin April 21, 2026. His lawyers recently asked the court to allow him out of custody as he awaits trial.
Argument against release: In a filing on Monday, prosecutors said Rinderknecht is a flight risk because of his familial ties to France, as well as a danger to the community. The filing states that Rinderknecht threatened to burn down his sister’s home and that he purchased a gun and threatened to kill his brother-in-law. Prosecutors also raised the fact that a judge determined in October that the suspect’s mental health had declined.
The allegations: Authorities allege Rinderknecht set fire to brush near the Skull Rock Trailhead in the Santa Monica Mountains at around midnight Jan. 1, starting the Lachman Fire. Though the fire was held to just 8 acres and was believed to have been extinguished, authorities say it flared up once again amid strong, dry winds a week later. That fire grew into the Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures.
