As the first anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel approached, local Muslim and Jewish communities in Central New York reflected on the toll the conflict has taken on their families and friends overseas. Both groups are calling for peace and urging the U.S. government to reconsider its support for military action in the region.
Although the conflict is happening nearly 4,000 miles away from Central New York, for the Muslim community in Syracuse, the conflict feels personal with roughly 2,000 Palestinians living in the area. Mohamed Khater, with the Islamic Society of Central New York, said many have faced multiple losses in the ongoing war.
“Whether they came from Palestine, from Jordan, from Lebanon, most of them have been devastated and lost family members, friends in Gaza specifically and recently in Lebanon,” Khater shared. “So, this is in our community.”
He is critical of the bipartisan U.S. political approach, pointing out that lawmakers continue to fund Israel’s military despite public statements supporting peace in Gaza. He blames both Democrats and Republicans who continue to approve military aid while advocating for a peaceful resolution.
Nearby, local Jewish activists echo a similar sentiment urging the U.S. to halt its military support for Israel. Mara Sapon-Shevin, a member of "Jewish Voices for Peace" and a professor emerita at Syracuse University, expressed deep grief over the ongoing violence that has claimed nearly 42,000 Palestinian lives. It is hard retribution for the 1,200 Israelis during Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7th, 2023. Sapon-Shevin has had enough and calls for an arms embargo on Israel.
“We as U.S. citizens are complicit in maintaining that horrible situation,” she said, emphasizing the need for action beyond mourning. On Sunday, her group stood along Onondaga Lake in a prayer vigil to end the violence. As she explained, the gesture was not only about remembering the dead but also about “fighting for the living” and seeking to stop the flow of weapons into the region.
As a follower of the Jewish faith, Sapon-Shevin said she struggles to reconcile how Israel’s actions conflict with her Judaism values. “There was always a lot of emphasis on feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and working for justice,” she recalled. “What’s happening now is very, very distressing and violates my sense of myself as a Jew.”
So long as they continue to fight with one another, Khatar also sees values misaligned with his own Islamic understandings on peace. “In the Quran, there is a verse that says, ‘if there is a fight with people and you have an enemy, and if the enemy inclines to peace, then we should incline to peace.’”
Both Sapon-Shevin and Khater agree that if more Americans demanded elected leaders end U.S. support for military action the war would end. In the meantime, they are committed to praying for peace and stability in the region.
This story was adapted to add the Islamic position.
