Following the deadliest attack on Israel seen in decades and the launch of an intense bombing campaign in Gaza, Orange County Jewish and Palestinian leaders say they condemn the attacks and mourn the lives lost.
It is estimated at least 1,900 people have died in the escalating war. Hamas militants attacked Israel Saturday morning, launching thousands of rockets and flooding into neighborhoods near the Gaza border, slaying residents and taking hostages. Israel has responded with airstrikes and sealing off the Gaza territory.
Analysts of the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine see it as a “turning point… with far-reaching repercussions.”
Several hundred people crowded the outdoor pavilion of the Merage Jewish Community Center of Orange County in Irvine on Tuesday night for a gathering to show support for Israel hosted by the Jewish Federation of Orange County.
Local rabbis led the crowd in an opening prayer for the state of Israel. “Israel is our beating heart, and right now it is bleeding,” one said.
Erik Ludwig, president and CEO of Jewish Federation of OC, said there is “no justification for acts of terrorism. They are pure evil, and all decent people have a responsibility to condemn them.
“The Jewish community here in OC will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel as it does what it needs to do to defend its citizens and defeat Hamas,” he said. “You being here is standing up.”
Israel Bachar, the Israeli Consul General to the Pacific Southwest, called the Hamas attack the “darkest time in modern history.”
“Seeing slain Jews evokes ghosts of the past,” he said. “This is the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. This attack is a crime against humanity.”
Rabbis also called on elected officials to publicly raise their support for Israel and to stand up against growing antisemitism abroad and at home.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine sent video messages, with Padilla echoing…
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