As promises of a ceasefire regarding the war of Gaza spread throughout the Bay Area on Wednesday, Omar, a San Jose resident and first-generation Palestinian-American, reacted with tentative optimism.
Omar said that he wanted to only be referred to by his first name due to fears of being doxxed for his pro-Palestinian stance. He said the ceasefire was a “moment of relief,” but it was “long overdue” and “the bare minimum” to Palestinians who have been suffering as casualties in the war for the last 15 months.
He tempered his expectations, saying that he hoped the Israeli government would stand by the agreement despite a history of agreeing to deals and later breaking them.
“This is just a testament to it being a genocide: Everyone there is experiencing this,” Omar said. “No one is in their homes; their homes are gone, everything they have is gone, and there’s just fighting to survive, so I really hope this ceasefire gives them a bit of relief in this moment.”
After months of efforts from international mediators, Israel and the militant group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, temporarily pausing the war in the Gaza Strip, which began after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The conflict has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza and around 1,100 people in Israel as of Wednesday, according to news network Al Jazeera. The fighting also led to the displacement of 90% of Gaza’s population and the captivity of nearly 100 Israeli people in Gaza; the Israeli military believes at least one-third of them are dead, according to the Associated Press.
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli community leaders around the Bay Area shared their relief and hopes for peace as news of the ceasefire deal broke.
Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin at Temple Sinai of Oakland said she felt relieved that there was some positive momentum toward the end of the conflict and that she was hopeful for the release of all Israeli hostages; that those that are alive can start their healing journeys and the bodies of those who died in captivity can be returned to their families. She also said that she was hopeful for a level of peace on the Gaza Strip so Palestinians can rebuild their lives.
“What I’m hoping is that this will enable folks to also be able to take a deep breath and talk about how we can positively impact what is happening there,” Mates-Muchin said. “I think folks have been very reactive, no matter where their perspective is and I think it’s understandable when it is perceived that it is a very desperate and difficult situation, which it has been. But I think the most important thing is that we need to figure out how to support all the people who live in that region, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian.”
Joy Sisisky, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Federation, also said she was filled with “hope and anticipation” for the ceasefire and that she and others in the organization are “keeping our fingers crossed” for the deal to be approved by the Israeli government by Thursday morning.
Sisisky said the organization has been in close contact with families of the Israeli hostages — some of whom have relatives or were born in the Bay Area — and that they are looking forward to securing the immediate return of all the hostages.
“I think the majority of Jews here in the Bay Area are in support and have a direct connection to Israel and we always pray for a safe, secure, democratic and independent state of Israel, so our connections to Israel are really intertwined with our Jewish identity,” Sisisky said. “My own family lives in Israel and I want to make sure that they can live in peace with their neighbors.”
Rabbi Mates-Muchin spoke about the increase in antisemitism since the war began, which she said has made it hard for Jewish people to be outspoken about their faith. She said that claims that Israel is an apartheid state or describing the conflict as a genocide stem from antisemitic ideologies that Jewish people are a “unique evil” throughout time, and that there are ways to hold the Israeli government accountable while not making blanket statements about every Israeli or every Jew. The rabbi said she said she hoped that people would be more compassionate and see how painful and difficult this time has been for Jewish people.
“What is happening in Israel is not necessarily a situation we’ve seen before, and using these particular terms are meant to shut down a conversation, they’re meant to draw a conclusion. They’re not meant to open a conversation to figure out how to understand the situation or how to be a help in the situation,” Rabbi Mates-Muchin said.
But for Omar, the war in Gaza also hits close to home. Although he was born and raised in the Bay Area, many of his relatives remained in the Gaza Strip. He said that he, like many other Palestinians, had lost several family members, including an aunt and uncle, due to the bombings and blockades that cut off medical services during the war.
“We’re hoping this ceasefire does give release, in that way, for the sake of the Palestinian people to take a break from being slaughtered,” Omar said. “I speak from the privilege of sitting here in the Bay Area, and we can’t even imagine the suffering the Palestinians have been enduring.”
Wendy Greenfield, a volunteer leader for the South Bay chapter of the Jewish Voice for Peace, shared Omar’s sentiment, saying that the ceasefire gave her “great hope, but it’s a guarded hope.”
There are three stages to the ceasefire that would allow for the exchange of prisoners on both sides and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with the free movement of goods and people. Greenfield said she didn’t think the Israeli government would have agreed to the ceasefire if it wasn’t for the millions of people worldwide demanding an end to the genocide of Palestinians, and she encouraged people to keep the pressure on their local, state and national officials to uphold the agreement and continue to call for divestment from Israel.
Omar echoed this sentiment, encouraging Americans to support the BDS movement, which called for the boycott of companies that supported Israel, divestment from Israel and sanctions on the Israeli government. He said that the Israeli government should be held accountable for the genocide of Palestinians and illegal occupation of their land for over 75 years and Palestinians needed to be allowed to decide what comes next for them.
“I’m hopeful, because I see people from all walks of life, races, ethnicities, becoming more aware,” Omar said.