Following the deadliest attack on Israel seen in decades and the launch of an intense bombing campaign in Gaza, Orange County Jewish and Palestinian leaders say they condemn the attacks and mourn the lives lost.
It is estimated at least 1,900 people have died in the escalating war. Hamas militants attacked Israel Saturday morning, launching thousands of rockets and flooding into neighborhoods near the Gaza border, slaying residents and taking hostages. Israel has responded with airstrikes and sealing off the Gaza territory.
Analysts of the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine see it as a “turning point… with far-reaching repercussions.”
Several hundred people crowded the outdoor pavilion of the Merage Jewish Community Center of Orange County in Irvine on Tuesday night for a gathering to show support for Israel hosted by the Jewish Federation of Orange County.
Local rabbis led the crowd in an opening prayer for the state of Israel. “Israel is our beating heart, and right now it is bleeding,” one said.
Erik Ludwig, president and CEO of Jewish Federation of OC, said there is “no justification for acts of terrorism. They are pure evil, and all decent people have a responsibility to condemn them.
“The Jewish community here in OC will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel as it does what it needs to do to defend its citizens and defeat Hamas,” he said. “You being here is standing up.”
Israel Bachar, the Israeli Consul General to the Pacific Southwest, called the Hamas attack the “darkest time in modern history.”
“Seeing slain Jews evokes ghosts of the past,” he said. “This is the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. This attack is a crime against humanity.”
Rabbis also called on elected officials to publicly raise their support for Israel and to stand up against growing antisemitism abroad and at home.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine sent video messages, with Padilla echoing calls for more U.S. government support and Porter saying, “We cannot remain idle as Israel suffers attacks.”
Among the local leaders attending were Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, state Sen. Josh Newman, Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley, Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, chair of the OC Board of Supervisors, and Irvine Police Chief Michael Kent.
The Hamas attacks in Israel happened as the Jewish community was celebrating the weeklong festival of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of the Tabernacles.
Tania Weinkle brought her children to the rally. She talked about the importance of bringing children to these community solidarity events and talking to them about things like antisemitism, war and genocide. She said it’s “important for them to understand what we face as being part of the Jewish community.”
Local Palestinians and supporters in Orange County are also mourning the attacks.
Rashad Al-Dabbagh, the founder and executive director of the Arab American Civic Council in Anaheim, condemned the Hamas attacks, while pleading for the U.S. government to “approach threats to Palestinian lives with the same concern and urgency” as Israeli lives.
“We mourn the tragic loss of life. All people deserve to live in peace and safety, which requires that we address the root of the problem,” Al-Dabbagh said. “We must support a future where everyone lives in peace, with equal rights and dignity. In doing so, we must first support justice by lifting the blockade on Gaza, ending the apartheid system and ending the occupation. There is no peace without justice.”
In a joint statement, students from the Palestinian-led SouthWest Asian North African organization at Cal State Fullerton said they were “heartbroken” at the attacks, and showed support for any Palestinian students being harassed for speaking out.
“Palestinian people have endured an immense amount of pain, suffering and violence. The power in their resilience speaks volumes,” they said.
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Rida Hamida, a first-generation Palestinian American Muslim and the executive director of Latino and Muslim Unity in Anaheim, said communities “are in mourning due to the loss of innocent lives. Every life is precious” and the conflict is raising more attention to the Palestinian experience in the occupied territories that “the world has turned a blind eye to since 1948.”
“We have to muster the courage to recognize that Palestinian lives matter,” she said. “We call for unity and to recognize every life deserves humanity and every life is sacred.”
At Tuesday’s gathering in Irvine, Hannah Rosenberg, 26, from Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot in Irvine, stood emotional with her sign: “I stand with Israel.”
Rosenberg, whose father is a rabbi, called Israel her “home away from home.” She recalled visiting the country and seeing Israelis and Palestinians together “side by side in peace.”
“So many people here want peace, both Israelis and Palestinians,” she said. “Hamas is not Palestine. Palestine and Israel have been together side by side for years, and that is how it should be.”
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