PALO ALTO, Calif. — Hours after President Biden condemned Hamas terrorist attacks as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, more than 2,000 community members prayed together and listened to elected officials and religious figures at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center on Oct. 10.
The event, which drew residents of the Bay Area and beyond, included speeches from Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest Marco Sermoneta, State Sen. Josh Becker and Chief Executive Officer of the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council Tyler Gregory. Attendees lit candles, waved Israeli flags, and sang hymns at the JCC’s Freidenrich Community Park.
The Oshman JCC began planning the event shortly after Hamas militants broke through the border between Israel and Gaza and fired rockets into Israel on Oct. 7, according to Chief Marketing Officer Nathaniel Bergson-Michelson. The militants attacked an all-night music festival and swept through several kibbutzim, or small communities. In total, over 1,300 have been killed in Israel, At least 22 American citizens are dead. An estimated 150 people were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to a White House national security spokesperson. Israel has since declared war on Hamas. As of Oct. 15, the Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians had been killed as Israel pummels the Gaza Strip with aerial bombardments ahead of a possible ground offensive into the territory.
Orit Kalinsky, a Sunnyvale resident who is from Israel, spent Saturday Oct. 7 – the day of Hamas’s attack – trying to contact her family, who live in a kibbutz near the Gaza border. After 24 hours without contact, her eyes glued to her television, she received a text message. Her family, which includes four young children, was safe.
“I have no words to describe the worry, the anxiousness, the unbelievable atrocities that took place,” Kalinsky, who learned that her family had been hiding in a bomb shelter for nearly 30 hours, said in an interview. “It feels like the worst nightmare; we’re trying to wake up but we cannot.”
In the aftermath of the initial attack, two other family members who are part of the Israel Defense Forces were deployed. The country’s military called up about 360,000 reservist soldiers and many rushed home to Israel from abroad, including from the Bay Area, upon receiving their call-up orders. Kalinsky and her husband David showed up to show support for her country of birth.
“There’s not too much that we can do from far away, so this is one way to be patriotic. It’s for Israel, but it’s also for us,” she said.
In his address, Sermoneta mourned the loss of lives during the conflict, but pledged swift action by Israel’s military. He praised Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statements expressing solidarity for Israel.
“This is the time to stand with Israel as it faces a merciless, ruthless enemy,” Sermoneta said to the attendees, referring to Hamas as “animals” at another point. “Because we’re not only fighting for our people, we are fighting for every country that stands against terrorism.”
Becker praised the broader community for their support toward the Israeli and Jewish communities. He thanked California’s Latino, Black, Asian and LGBTQ caucuses for standing against antisemitism and providing legislative support for Israel, noting that the Jewish Caucus “stood up for [those groups] when their communities were faced with hate.” Democratic State Assemblymember Marc Berman, who represents the Palo Alto area, added that members of government across the political spectrum have made statements in support of Israel.
Each speech referenced recent pro-Palestinian marches, some of which have occurred in San Francisco, or social media posts. Referred to by Sermoneta as a secondary battle, the speakers urged rally-goers to push back against anti-Israeli sentiment.
“We are seeing solidarity around the world for Israel, but there are those celebrating in the streets of San Francisco, on our college campuses, on social media,” Gregory said to the crowd. “Those people support terror, and we will hold them accountable.”
While many attendees came to hear the words of community leaders, all found comfort in the shared experiences of the Jewish community. Guy Bitton, who moved to Chicago from Hod Hasharon, Israel, three years ago, was on a business trip to Silicon Valley when the violence broke out. Thousands of miles away from home, Bitton made it a priority to attend the rally.
“Often it feels like you’re surrounded by people that don’t mean harm, but they don’t understand you as well as the ones that are connected to Israel. I needed that support, so I found this,” he said in an interview.
