Children’s clothes seen in rubble, destroyed houses and buildings are seen for miles as innocent civilians cry and yell in agony for their loved ones wounded or deceased under the broken bricks after countless air strikes in Gaza. Blood stains and wounds cover the faces of children as tears trickle down their faces, screaming and crying for their parents.
A longstanding history of conflict over land and independence has plagued both parties for centuries, marked by violence and shifting land boundaries that have ended the lives of many innocent children, women, and men.
While celebrating a Jewish Holiday, Hamas militants attacked nearby Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip Oct. 7, massacring dozens and abducting children and women from their homes in a deadly surprise attack, leading Israel to declare war on Hamas.
In the wake of the attack and ongoing conflict, the El Paso community has felt the impact bringing in an array of emotions, especially for Rabbi at Temple Mount Sinai, Ben Zeidman.
“I’m in mourning, and I think El Paso understands this because of the experience we all had with the August third shooting, there is a deep sense of grief at somebody or group of people doing something that doesn’t make any sense,” Zeidman said. “It’s traumatic and painful, it’s unbelievable that somebody would do that or people do those things to people.”
The violence didn’t stop there as Hamas fired thousands of missiles at communities near the Gaza Strip and opened fire at a music festival in southern Israel, claiming the lives of 260 civilians. Reported by AP News, the surprise attack left 1,400 dead, making it the deadliest in Israel in decades, and has left many Jewish people like Zeidman in disbelief and frustrated on how something like this could happen.
“The state of Israel exists to protect and provide a haven for Jews, and that haven was violated, and we are all feeling different about how and why that happened,” Zeidman said. “Hamas has not lied to anybody they are clear on how they feel and what they’re about. I believe Israel has the right to respond and destroy terrorism and hate and that’s me personally.”
In response to the attack, Israel fired numerous air strikes into the Gaza Strip, leaving 4,000 Palestinian civilians and children dead and 13,000 injured in a matter of two weeks. According to CNBC, first aid trucks began entering from Gaza via Egypt Saturday morning, Oct. 21, but Israel plans to step up attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Thursday, Oct. 19, Zeidman and spokesperson Omar Hernandez from the Islamic Center of El Paso shared a joint statement about the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel and acknowledged the grief from both sides
“We stand united against killing and violence against unarmed children, women, and men,” they said. “We are all in deep pain over the events taking place in the Middle East. We are in a state of constant worry for those who are affected by these events, and deeply in anguish for those who are dead.”
Speaking to El Paso Matters, Hernandez considers the blockade by Israel a violation of international law and hopes officials will come to a peaceful solution. Asking for unity, the joint statement was something Zeidman thought was reaffirming and necessary.
“When I reached out to the Islamic center, it was an easy yes because we had already built a relationship, the interfaith relationships in our community already exist, so to be able to get together and to say this is what we stand for and this is what it means to be in a community like El Paso was important,” Zeidman said. “Important to us to remind the community that antisemitism and islamophobia is not the way we respond to our challenges and not the way we deal with our disagreements.”
Along with the joint statement, the advocacy group ‘El Paso for Palestine’ organized a rally and protest calling for a ceasefire as El Pasoans gathered support in San Jacinto Plaza Chanting ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘River to the sea, Palestine will be free’, guest speaker Summer Masoud shared what she has been feeling about the current conflict in Gaza.
“I have family in Palestine currently who are under barricade in the West Bank I’m not sure what is going to happen with soldiers and settlers harassing them constantly day and night, and this is before the events of the last two weeks, this is our lifetime of subjugation and discrimination,” Masoud said. “Regardless of my human attachment, this is a human issue.
A human issue where 200 hostages are currently held captive by Hamas in Gaza. In the most recent news, two Americans were released from Hamas Oct. 20. El Pasoan Lori Gaman was stuck in Israel when the attacks unfolded and shared her experience on how she got home.
“Throughout the entire day, they were such helicopter action flying, jet action, and at times you would see military boats coming back and forth and sirens throughout the day,” Gaman said. “Everybody would get up, and we would run with them to the shelters and that continued throughout the day and every day that we were there.”
Siren after another, Gaman thought the experience was hard to believe, traveling with her husband and family, Gaman’s only mission was to flee the country before things escalated quickly and get home safely to her children.
“We knew that it was the calm before the storm, we were seeing all this helicopter and military activity taking place, we were hearing booms, we heard the bombings,” Gaman said. “We were about 30 miles away from where most of the activity was taking place, and we had to pack an emergency bag and take things that were emotional; I had to take pictures of our passports and send them to our kids in case something bad happen to us, they would have the information to find us.”
While many run to bomb shelters for protection, hear bombs in the distance, and see a first-hand experience of what has transcended, Gaman hopes for peace for both parties involved and feels for the innocent lives killed in these attacks.
“I do believe that Palestinians and Jews could live together I think it’s possible we need to rid Gaza of their rogue government and the terrorists taken over there,” Gaman said. “Israel has the right and fortitude to go in and hopefully change the situation around, I feel for the innocent people because I do think it’s going be ugly.”
Erik Acosta is the web and copy editor and may be reached at [email protected]
