Hody Nemes
Wed, October 18, 2023
Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images
After a week of unimaginable pain in the Jewish community, I never expected I’d be driving to a large Palestinian community in the Chicago suburbs.
Yet on Monday afternoon, my colleague Rabbi Ari Hart and I found ourselves on an hour-long drive from Skokie, a deeply Jewish enclave north of Chicago, to a mosque in Bridgeview, Illinois, also known as “Little Palestine.”
We came to offer comfort to the father of Wadea al-Fayoume, a Muslim, Palestinian-American boy murdered on Sunday. Police say he was targeted by his family’s landlord because of his faith and identity, in response to the conflict in Israel. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was also repeatedly stabbed and is hospitalized.
Israelis Were Slaughtered, Now Jews Are Threatened Worldwide
Rabbi Hart and I direct Solu, a bridge-building initiative that connects Orthodox Jews with diverse communities across the Chicago region. We wanted to find a way to show our support for this aching family. So we joined a handful of rabbis at Wadea’s funeral, all of us aghast at the loss of this little boy.
Our hearts were already raw. Our community has been reeling: On Oct. 7, as we prayed in our synagogue on a Jewish holiday, we learned that Hamas terrorists had launched a 9/11-style terrorist attack against Israeli civilians—killing whole families, kidnapping children, livestreaming murders. Tears and shock cascaded across the modern Orthodox congregation where we serve as rabbis.
For our community, this attack is personal. Our siblings, parents, or close friends live in Israel. We know some of the 1,300 Israelis killed thus far. Family members of a young man kidnapped from an Israeli music festival are members of our synagogue; they don’t know if he is alive or dead.
The attack was also personal because we’re Jews. Hamas, whose founding charter is rife with anti-Jewish hate, sought to kill as many Jews as they could—men, women, children, and babies.
We believe Israel is now engaged in a just war to destroy Hamas, an autocratic terrorist organization that has ruled Gaza with an iron fist. And we have room in our hearts for the terrible pain this war is causing innocent Gazans, even as we believe in its necessity.
Colleges Should Defend Students’ Free Speech Against Billionaire Donors
In the midst of our pain, we read of the al-Fayoume family’s pain. We understood that the local Muslim and Palestinian communities were reeling. And we made room in our hearts for their pain, too.
The same values that compel us to condemn Hamas barbarism lead us to condemn this terrible act of hate: the supreme values of life and tolerance—the Biblical call to build a society where “every one can sit beneath their vine and fig tree, and there is no one to make them afraid” (Micah 4:4).
So we traveled to the mosque. We met with the imam. We heard Wadea’s father’s lament. We shed tears for him and his wife. We expressed our horror at their terrible loss.
And we heard the community’s understandable fears of more hate crimes against American Muslims in the wake of this attack, which we pray will not occur.
I was quite nervous about how the community would feel about our presence—it’s not often that two Orthodox Jewish, Zionist rabbis walk into a Palestinian-American mosque. But the leaders of the mosque and the Muslim community welcomed us warmly.
Our divergent backgrounds or views on the conflict didn’t matter in this moment. We mentioned the fundamental belief that is central to both Islam and Judaism: that whoever murders a human, destroys an entire world (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5, Quran 5:32). In the words of Rabbi Hart, “The murder of a 6-year-old because of his faith and his identity is not complicated. It is a heinous crime.”
Members of their congregation walked up to thank us for our presence. One prayer-goer quietly asked how our community was faring during this dark time; an Egyptian man expressed his outrage over recent violence against Jews in Egypt. I felt the flickers of brotherhood with these strangers—who made room in their hearts for my pain. That’s no easy feat.
Don’t Let Politicians Normalize the Dehumanization of Palestinians
Here in Chicago, we’re trying to bridge the gulf between the Orthodox community and other communities.
Through our work in Solu, the bridge-building initiative, we’ve traveled to the South Side of Chicago, an area riven by gun violence, to offer our support to the black Christian community—building a literacy center for kids, distributing food, and releasing medical debt. We’ve built bridges to the Rohingya Muslim community, a group of refugees bearing the scars of religious persecution. We’ve resettled a Guatemalan refugee family, and fed the homeless down the street.
We bear a simple message for our neighbors: You are not alone. And that includes our Palestinian-American neighbors.
Before she was attacked by her landlord, Wadea’s mother is reported to have said, “Let’s pray for peace.”
We join her in praying for peace—“peace to those far and near,” (Isaiah 57:19), a lasting peace that lets every child reach adulthood, wherever they live, however they worship.
I’m appalled by students who support Hamas. But I defend their right to free speech | Opinion
Erwin Chemerinsky
Tue, October 17, 2023
Those who exercise their right to freedom of speech must expect that others may react against what they say. Every fall, I send a message to the students at my school, staunchly defending their free speech rights, but also urging care as they decide what to say. I caution them that what they choose to put on social media could matter to prospective employers.
This lesson became very important in the last week as student organizations around the country, including at my law school, have astoundingly defended what Hamas did in Israel. The issue received national attention when the president of the student government at New York University Law School issued a statement defending Hamas: “This week, I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination. Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.”
Opinion
The law firm of Winston & Strawn, which had offered this student a job, announced it was withdrawing the job offer: “Today, Winston & Strawn learned that a former summer associate published certain inflammatory comments regarding Hamas’ recent terrorist attack on Israel and distributed it to the NYU Student Bar Association. These comments profoundly conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm. Accordingly, the firm has rescinded the law student’s offer of employment.”
The student had the right to express their views, but the law firm had the right to say it did not want to employ someone who took such a position.
After Hamas’ invasion of Israel, I sent a letter to the UC Berkeley Law community, where I am dean.
“I have been horrified to watch the terrorist attack on Israel that has claimed so many lives and put so many in danger,” I wrote. “Many in our community have family, friends and loved ones in the Middle East. I hope I speak for our entire community in wishing them safety and in hoping for peace. I express my deepest sympathy for those who have lost loved ones.”
A law student group, Law Students for Justice in Palestine, responded by writing: “We denounce the framing of Israel as a victim ... Dean Chemerinsky’s email reeks of racism. His statement laments the loss of Israeli lives but completely ignores the loss of Palestinian life. The double standard framing of Palestinian activism as terrorism is rooted in Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric.”
The law students have the right to say this. But I also have the right to say that what Hamas did in Israel was not “Palestinian activism,” but terrorism that is beyond the pale of international law and basic humanity. Killing 260 people at a music festival is terrorism. Pulling people from their homes to hold them as hostages is terrorism. Savagely killing 100 people in a kibbutz is terrorism.
Across the country, some student groups have expressed support for what Hamas has done. At Berkeley, Bears for Palestine and Law Students for Justice in Palestine issued a statement: “We support the resistance, we support the liberation movement and we indisputably support the Uprising.”
Similar statements have been issued by similar student groups at other universities.
There have been repeated calls to keep these groups from holding rallies on the UC Berkeley campus, but they have the right to do so and preventing them would violate the First Amendment.
It is tempting for university administrators — presidents, chancellors and deans — to refrain from taking positions on such difficult issues. But silence is a message, too. It is necessary and appropriate for us all to express sadness for the loss of life in Israel and in Gaza and for all those there who are frightened and still in danger.
As administrators, it is important that we urge compassion and care in what is said. But we should not hesitate to condemn terrorism and all who defend it. Those who disagree can express their message. That is what freedom of speech is all about.
Erwin Chemerinsky is the dean and a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law.
WHICH IS WORSE
Palestinian-American business owners face death threats, negative reviews
MAX ZAHN
Tue, October 17, 2023
Palestinian-American business owners face death threats, negative reviews
Since war broke out between Israel and Hamas last week, a Palestinian-American apparel store owner in San Diego, California, has received a spate of death threats online, she said.
The founder of a chain of Palestinian restaurants in the Northeast U.S., meanwhile, said a person last week screamed expletives at him and his employees at a location in Manhattan, accusing them of being terrorists.
The co-director of an Ontario, California-based clothing company -- which sells traditional garments to Palestinians for special occasions -- said business has ground to halt because customers are postponing celebrations.
Palestinian business owners in the U.S. and Canada who spoke to ABC News described a swirl of emotions in recent days: Grief for thousands in the region who have died and dread as the death toll continues to grow, fear for themselves or their peers amid an outpouring of hate and the challenge of weathering all of it as they oversee their companies.
However, the conflict has also elicited support from customers or members of local communities, nearly all of the five business owners said, describing notes scribbled on receipts or appended to delivery orders.
MORE: Israel-Gaza live updates: Dozens killed as Israel strikes Gaza overnight
"It’s been very heart wrenching and difficult," Aminah Mufa, the co-founder of the San Diego-based apparel store PaliRoots, who has faced death threats, told ABC News. "I think every Palestinian is unable to sleep right now -- we’re sick to our stomachs."
At the same time, Mufa said, she has drawn encouragement from a simultaneous upswell of compassion for Palestinians. "It has honestly been so hopeful for us," she said.
The militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack last Saturday that has left at least 1,400 people dead and 3,400 people injured in Israel.
In Gaza, 3,000 people have been killed and another 12,500 were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The U.N. Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) said that Gaza is running out of body bags, as well as clean water. The Palestinian territory also has no electricity, UNRWA officials said.
Sara Jayyusi, a Palestinian-Candian who runs an online clothing store based in Ontario, Canada, said she mourns the lives lost and worries about the bloodshed likely to come.
A business partner is among those in Gaza, Jayyusi said. "Every day I don't know if she's alive," Jayyusi added.
Jayyusi and her husband run Deerah, a clothing company that specializes in traditional garments worn at Palestinian celebrations. She has received a barrage of threatening messages online, Jayyusi said. "Instagram is a cruel place," she added.
MORE: Gaza conditions worsen following Israeli onslaught after Hamas attack
Meanwhile, sales have plummeted because customers are delaying special occasions amid the war, Jayyusi said. "They’re not in a mental state to really be celebrating," she said, noting that her husband has begun to look for another job to make up for lost income.
Still, she added, the hardship falls well short of the danger faced by Palestinians in Gaza. "As we all sleep in our homes, Palestinian people are being bombed and starved," she said
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Israeli officials have said the military is targeting Hamas and attempting to limit civilian casualties. "We are currently striking Hamas in its entirety," Israel Defense Forces Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told ABC News "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.
Abdul Eleanani, the co-owner of Ayat NYC, a chain of five Palestinian restaurants in New York and Pennsylvania, said the company has faced hateful remarks made to company staff face-to-face and over the phone, as well as an onslaught of negative Google reviews.
Last week, someone walked into the company’s lower Manhattan location at around 10:30 p.m. and yelled, "You guys are terrorists," while adding an expletive.
The sense of fear has grown after the fatal stabbing on Saturday of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Illinois, Eleanani said. "Why did it have to lead to that?" he added.
Alongside the hateful messages, however, the restaurant chain has received far more gestures of solidarity, Eleanani said.
On Instagram, the company posted a photo of a delivery order on which a customer had included a note of support. "My heart is with you all," the note said. "All solidarity and care to the people of Palestine." Others have put in orders but asked the restaurant to donate the food to Palestinians instead of delivering it, Eleanani said.
Eleanani said he expects the hateful comments to continue but he remains hopeful.
"The good will overpower the small part of negativity," he said.
"The purpose of this restaurant and what I’m building around it is just to build awareness of what’s going on back home," he added. "Palestinians want to live in peace and coexist together."
ABC News' Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
Palestinian-American business owners face death threats, negative reviews originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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