'It hurts my heart' - suburban Palestinians, Jews distressed over rising tensions in Middle East
Suburban Palestinians and Jews say they feel a swell of emotions ranging from fear, anger and distress over concern for friends and family members to glimmers of hope for a peaceful end to the escalating violence and rising death toll in the Gaza Strip, occupied West Bank and Israel.
The situation has sparked widespread Palestinian protests in the West Bank and rallies worldwide, including Sunday's pro-Palestinian rally in downtown Chicago where thousands marched and a much smaller pro-Israel rally in Buffalo Grove.
"It's just an overwhelming of emotion," said Abdullah Alzamli, 24, an attorney from Glendale Heights who still has relatives in the region and feels a kinship with Palestinians. "You watch videos and hear the stories. It hurts my heart most of all."
In 1948, Alzamli's great-grandfather was forced out of his home in Dimona where the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center now stands. Many of his aunts and uncles also are scattered across the Middle East.
"They all left (Gaza) as a matter of safety and economic opportunity," Alzamli said. "I could be one of those kids, if my grandparents never escaped."
Alzamli is hopeful the tide of public opinion is shifting in favor of Palestinians as more videos surface of the devastation and their treatment under occupation. "No one wants to see children, whether they are Palestinian or Jewish, be scared or die," he added.
Some fear tensions in the Middle East could sour fledgling bonds between suburban Jewish and Muslim communities.
"Our hearts are broken over what is happening in Israel, Gaza and West Bank," said Rabbi Taron Tachman, of Beth Tikvah Congregation in Hoffman Estates. "For some of our community members, this is especially difficult because they have friends and family members in Israel who are terrified spending their nights in bomb shelters as rockets are launched against them. We pray for the safety, well-being, equality and justice for all the inhabitants of the area."
Tachman said while his congregation's roughly 250 members stand with Israel, they don't necessarily agree with all the actions and decisions of its leaders.
"Our relationships here matter a great deal to us, just as Israel does," Tachman said. "This week, our community will be gathering with local Muslims as part of our ongoing dedication and interest in interfaith dialogue and solidarity."
The latest spate of violence erupted after Israeli security forces stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on May 7. The mosque - the third holiest site in Islam - sits inside a 35-acre site known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as the Temple Mount. Israeli troops fired rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades while Muslim worshippers were gathered for nightly prayers in the final days of the month of Ramadan, The Associated Press reports.
That sent shock waves throughout suburban Muslim communities, said Asma Jarad, 41, of Bloomingdale, a communications strategist for ICNA Relief in Glendale Heights.
Jarad had hoped to take her five children to visit family in the Palestinian territories and to Al-Aqsa last summer but the pandemic disrupted their plans. Now, her children are scared what might happen if they go there in future, she said.
"Gaza is literally a jail ... it's an open-air prison you cannot leave," said Jarad, whose family is from a small village near Ramallah, a city in the central West Bank north of Jerusalem. "They are demolishing our homes, our hospitals, our schools, our infrastructure, and you want us to sit and be quiet?"
Tensions also have flared in recent weeks over the expulsion of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem.
"The mood is one of profound sadness regardless of where you are on the political spectrum," said Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein of Congregation Kneseth Israel of Elgin. "I have had friends who have spent nights in bomb shelters."
Klein represents a politically divided congregation of roughly 100 families, many of whom have ties to Israel. She also is fearful for a rabbi friend from Woodstock who has grandkids in Israel and plans to travel there this weekend.
"I firmly believe that Israel has a right to exist and a right to defend itself," Klein said. But, she attributes the escalation of violence to "a failure of leadership."
Klein said it gives her hope to see hundreds of women from Jerusalem and people worldwide join the #NotInMyName social media campaign condemning violence on both sides and the oppression of Palestinians in Gaza.
"There are thousands of people who are protesting but it won't necessarily stop the bombs," Klein said.
Among suburban Palestinians and Jews, support is growing for cutting off nearly $4 billion in yearly U.S. military aid to Israel.
"Israel has killed more Palestinian children in the past 20 days than the Palestinians have killed Israelis in the past 20 years," said Sheryl Ring, of McHenry, an attorney and volunteer for Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago area chapter. "At that point, it stops being about who started it and more about who is really inflicting harm here. There is no moral equivalency between what Palestine is purportedly doing to Israel and what Israel is doing to Palestine."