Cleveland Israeli and Palestinian communities on edge; react to Hamas attacks

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Saturday’s attacks by the Palestinian extremist group Hamas on Israel, followed by Israel’s declaration of war and subsequent military retaliation, are weighing on the minds of members of Cleveland’s Jewish and Palestinian communities.

The Greater Cleveland area is home, according to estimates, to more than 80,000 Jews, and about 25,000 Palestinians, many of whom have family living in what has now, officially, become a war zone.

The latest attack came one day after the 50th anniversary of the launch of a war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states who sought to wrest control of a portion of land near the Suez Canal. The 1973 attack came on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and on the 10th day of the Muslim Ramadan holiday.

“Israel is fighting for its existence, again,” said Alan Rosenbaum, a retired philosophy professor at Cleveland State University. “Every enemy that Israel has wants to eliminate it as a state.”

Late Monday afternoon, Jewish and Palestinian Greater Clevelanders gathered in separate locations.

Several hundred people, some carrying Israeli flags, took part in an organized gathering at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland building in Beachwood, where candles were handed out and buttons reading “Cleveland Stands with Israel” were distributed. There was a large police presence.

“I think every Jew should be here. It’s time to come together,” said Judi Schonfeld of South Euclid.

Her friend, Cindy Schwab, of Lyndhurst, likened her feelings to those early in the COVID-19 pandemic: “There’s not much we can do, except come together. We can’t help them there. When you can’t do anything, you want to do something.”

Schonfeld added, “Why can’t we all get along?”

Meanwhile, about 100 Palestinian supporters gathered in Market Square near Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street, carrying signs, including one reading, “End all U.S. aid to Israel.” They were protesting what supporters called a decades-long occupation by Israel.

Cameron Damaska, a member of the Northeast Ohio branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the group called the rally to support Palestinian’s right to self-determination against the “apartheid state” of Israel.

There also were a handful of counter protestors on hand supporting Israel.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered U.S. and Ohio flags at public buildings throughout the state to be flown at half-staff Tuesday through Thursday “in response to the unprovoked attack and invasion of Israel.”

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said on X, formerly known as Twitter, “My prayers are with the people of Israel today as they confront these attacks. Terrorism has no place in our society. Cleveland stands in solidarity with Israel in the face of terror and condemns these acts of evil.”

The latest offensive has far-reaching devastation through the world’s Jewish community, said Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple Senior Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk.

He said most people who are Jewish likely know someone whose life either has been upended by the attack or will likely be in the midst of the fallout that is to come.

“The Jewish people that you know are not OK right now,” Nosanchuk said. “This is not status quo. This is not turbulence. This is a horrible wreckage. It makes us tremble.”

Beachwood resident Yuval Rub said he and his wife have not slept since learning of the missiles attacking Israel.

He said his 18-year-old daughter enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces and has been overseas since August, three months after graduating from Beachwood High School. She has not stopped working for days while awaiting assignment soon, her dad said.

“We told her, ‘You can come home, there are resources for you to come back to Cleveland,’ ” her dad said. “But she told me ‘I can’t leave Israel now. I’m needed here.’ ”

Rub, for fear of retaliation to his daughter overseas, asked that her first name not be used.

Rub grew up in Tel Aviv and moved to the United States 20 years ago. Although many Israeli people return to Israel, Rub said he has no plans on returning soon.

Khalid Bahhur, a Palestinian-American and longtime Clevelander, said that there is a lot of fear and uncertainty about what the future holds among the Palestinian community as well.

“It’s a very scary time. The situation in the Palestinian-Israeli arena is becoming unsustainable, especially with the most right-wing Israeli government ever,” said Bahhur, contending that the storming of mosques, killings, border closings, restrictions on movement, and cuts to power and water have led to increasing tensions.

“This is not something that happened today,” Bahhur said. “This has been building for years and years.”

His mother, who he talks with daily, lives near Beit El in Palestine’s West Bank. She told him supermarkets are being overrun by people trying to stock up on supplies for fear they will soon lose access to food, water and electricity.

“We are really praying for our brothers and sisters in Gaza and what they are dealing with right now,” said Shereen Naser, a Palestinian-American from Cleveland whose father is in the West Bank.

“It’s heartbreaking. I see the pictures and videos that are coming out, and I see my own children in the faces of these entire sibling groups that are being slaughtered.”

People from both communities suggested they are at the mercy of politics and escalating extremism that is drowning out the voices of those who truly want peace. It’s also a situation that is much more nuanced than it’s often presented, Naser said.

For example, Naser, who’s family is Christian, said the conflict is about so much more than religion and that the Palestinians in the United States have been begging politicians in the U.S for years to intervene in a more meaningful way.

“We have been fighting so hard for the American government to broker peace in the region, to actually have a nuanced, complex understanding and not just say pro-Israel, we’re with Israel, we stand with Israel,” Naser said, “because what you are really saying is that you stand with apartheid. And when you continue to support violence through supporting an apartheid state, then the violence will beget more violence.”

A petition has been drafted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation Northeast Ohio and the Palestinian Youth Movement, calling for Mayor Bibb and other local politicians to retract their pro-Israel statements, which they say are hurtful to the Palestinian constituents they are meant to represent.

That is not to say that Bahhur, Naser or their fellow Palestinian-Americans support the brutality of the Hamas attacks. In fact, some in the community have even spoken out against them in spite of being called sellouts and verbally attacked by those with more extreme views in their own community. But Naser said it is unfair to ignore the actions of Israel that she believes have escalated the conflict.

“This is a very unfortunate situation. Instead of talking about sports and living, we are talking about burying the dead,” said Bahhur.

“Those people who really want a just and everlasting peace, this is the time to step up, and unfortunately it takes courage from both sides to stand up and say enough is enough, we’ve tried war, let’s try something different.”

The belief that peace is possible, and worth fighting for, is at least one thing both sides agree on. Rabbi Nosanchuk pointed to a line in the Israeli national anthem that translates to “our hope is not lost.”

“That’s how I feel,” Nosanchuk said. “My hope is trembling, but it’s not lost.”

cleveland.com reporters Julie Washington and Zachary Smith contributed to this report.