Local Groups Call for End of Israel-Hamas Conflict

The surprise attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7 has drawn condemnation by local groups for the violence and calls for an end to the fighting as well as support for those displaced by war.

While the situation continues to develop, more than 400,000 people have already fled their homes in the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters news service. This was even before Israel ordered more than a million Palestinians to evacuate last week in preparation for troops to fight. United Nations officials say humanitarian organizations have had difficulty getting people into the zone to help the wounded in hospitals and displaced in Palestinian refugee shelters.

Locally, both Israeli and Palestinian supporters have called for the end of fighting and the safe return of more than 120 hostages, including a handful of Americans, captured by Hamas.
Last week, rallies at San Francisco's Civic Center, Walnut Creek, and elsewhere called for the safe return of hostages, with praying, singing, and speakers.

“It feels surreal because you are in America, and you feel like you can't do something, but you are doing something,” said Castro Valley resident Yelena Shapiro, who attended the procession between the Walnut Creek Library and Lesher Center for the Arts on October 10. “We were expecting about 200 people, and 800 showed up. It was somber and much more peaceful than I had anticipated.” 

Shapiro, who has about 50 Jewish and non-Jewish relatives near the battle, says the conflict is devastating for all communities. 

“Some of those relatives recently moved to Israel from Russia to escape the violence in Ukraine,” Shapiro told the Forum. “Thankfully, they are supplying us with periodical survival checks, so we know they’re all right.

A representative of Castro Valley’s Congregation, Shir Ami, said it also joins the global Jewish community in shock and outrage at the brutal attack on Israel and for healing for all those impacted by the violence.

“In the depths of our pain, we also have compassion for the suffering of Palestinian civilians who have been killed, injured, and displaced. We hope for a speedy end to military hostilities and for a future of co-existence for the peoples of the region,” Congregation Shir Ami Past President Ruth Hartman told the Forum.

And while Castro Valley may be physically distant from the battlefields, Rabbi S. Gruzman of Chabad of Castro Valley notes doing acts of goodness and kindness here can have a positive effect. 

“Our positive actions here in Castro Valley can influence the outcome of the war against evil raging in Israel. Because every act of kindness generates a powerful light that banishes much darkness and will certainly eradicate this despicable darkness, we all abhor,” Rabbi Gruzman said. “May this war be the last one anyone should ever fight, and may we merit the realization of the biblical prophecies of an era of eternal peace and tranquility for all.”