“Easy, Israel good. Hamas bad,” a Jewish friend texted about a month into the ongoing war on the Middle Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

If only this scary situation were that simple.

Paul Beiersdorf and his family were no doubt terrified as they huddled in a safe room in his son’s apartment in Ashdod on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists brutally attacked communities in Israel.

Some 1,200 Israelis were massacred and 240 more people — including Americans — were taken hostage. And then the skies lit up as both sides exchanged rocket fire over the Gaza Strip.

“On the 7th, my son called, and said, ‘Grab what you can and get over here’, ” recalled Beiersdorf, who, luckily, had borrowed his son Ian’s car the night before when he and his wife returned
to their Airbnb.

“The safe room is a kid’s bedroom,” Beiersdorf explained. “Small, not real big. If I said it was 10×12, I would be exaggerating.”

Seven of them — six Beiersdorfs, including a 3-year-old granddaughter and newborn grandson, and Paul’s daughter-in-law’s mother — were crammed in the safe room for most of Oct. 7 and 8.

“We’d stay in the safe room until the sirens go off,” said Beiersdorf, 71. “It’s kind of like a tornado. When the sirens are on, you go in.”

Ashdod is about 11 miles north of Gaza, which has become a stronghold for Hamas the past 17 years.

“Initially, (the sirens) were going off a lot on the 7th and 8th,” Beiersdorf said. “As Israel was retaliating, they slowed down. Some of the (Hamas) sites were being hit.”

The two sides — the Israeli Defense Force and Hamas terrorists — have been warring for the past two months. And the world is watching.

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Stand with Israel

Calls to “Stand with Israel” were heard throughout the United States and abroad.

“Israelis are used to being attacked,” explains Susan Katz, who heads the Jewish Federation of Peoria. “Since 2006, rockets have been launched from Gaza.”

The IDF has rained rocket fire on the north end of Gaza in retaliation, decimating the landscape as it roots out the ruthless murderers. There are reports that up to 13,000 Palestinians have died since the conflict began. Israeli officials say Hamas has stationed itself underground beneath hospitals and schools in a network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip.

“We talk about ‘Never Again’ — Jews being murdered for being Jews,” Katz continued. “We will not be slaughtered for being Jewish. Hamas had go-pro cameras. They documented it. So did the Nazis.”

Here in America, you may see memorials at street corners to honor victims of car accidents. In Israel, there are exponentially more memorials, only these are set up to remember victims of terrorist attacks.

“Unfortunately war is ugly, and people die,” Katz continued. “Palestinians are victims of Hamas.”

How did it get here? The Israeli government was caught off guard, but who could predict the grotesque slaughter of Oct. 7? Families, including babies, killed in front of each other. Hundreds attending a music festival gunned down.

“We condemn killing of any civilians,” said Imam Mazhar Mahmood, who serves as the Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Foundation of Peoria. “But if there was no occupation, there would be no Hamas. It’s an ongoing battle in a struggle for peace.”

Stuck in a safe room

It was a struggle, to say the least, for the Beiersdorfs to get back to America. Rep. Eric Sorensen and Sen. Tammy Duckworth worked to get them out safely. The family had to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.

“Missile fire was all around,” Beiersdorf said. “We had a missile hit two blocks from where we were. The Air Dome is pretty efficient, but some do get through.

“There were seven of us in a two-bedroom apartment.”

On Oct. 13, his family was told to travel to Tel Aviv, and was able to board an airplane chartered by the U.S. the next day that flew them to Athens, Greece.

“They literally get you out of harm’s way, and let you go on your own,” Beiersdorf recalled. “Totally bizarre feeling going from the threat of missiles to historic Athens.”

Peace in Palestine

The war has called attention to the conflicting realities of Muslim Palestinians and Jewish Israelis. Palestinians are called a forgotten people — forgotten by Arab nations as well as Israelis and the rest of the world. It’s said that their land was taken from them after World War II when a Jewish state was created in what is now Israel because of the Holocaust.

For decades, the Israeli government has been accused by international human rights organizations, including those in Israel, of pushing the Palestinians into smaller and smaller parcels of land on the West Bank of the Jordan River and The Gaza Strip, which is on the Egyptian border. Israel has established a blockade around Gaza, which effectively prohibits travel.

Mahmood organized two “Free Palestine” rallies in Peoria since the war started. Katz, who declared the Jewish Federation of Peoria will not counter protest, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Rally for Israel,” which attracted hundreds of thousands to the National Mall.

Caught in crossfire

It’s important to note that there are more than two sides to this issue as it has developed.

You can disagree with Israeli policy and not be antisemitic. Indeed, roughly half of Israelis disagree with their government’s policies. And about half of Jewish Americans also disagree with Israeli policy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a controversial leader.

You can also sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians and not be pro-Hamas or anti-Jew.

“I am one of the biggest condemners of Hamas,” Imam Mahmood said. “The catch is there is not condemnation from both sides.

U.S. officials do not criticize Israel.

The rhetoric is overheated, nonetheless. Netanyahu promised “mighty vengeance” on Hamas, which declared it hopes “the state of war with Israel will become permanent.”

Accusations of genocide, modern-day Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, Zionism, antisemitism, apartheid state and war crimes are being bandied about in all quarters. Calls for a ceasefire are perceived as anti-Israel.

“Hamas intentionally put Palestinians in harm’s way just for the optics,” Beiersdorf said. “Israel has every right to defend itself.”

The question is how many Palestinians will be allowed to die during Israel’s defense? Hamas doesn’t care. Dead Palestinians only help its twisted terrorism. Seems like people are overlooking the first word in “human shield.”

Antisemitism and Islamophobia are exploding across the world.

Beiersdorf is wary of being hassled.

Jews for Peace marched in New York to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians for the past 75 years.

Peorians have family members who have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and some are being detained. The locals here, too, are reluctant to talk.

“Israel is not a perfect place,” Katz said. “Things probably could have been handled differently.”

Thousands of family members of Israeli hostages are marching in their country to press their government to make freeing the hostages held in Gaza more of a priority.

“It feels like the hostages have been removed from the consciousness,” Katz said in mid-November. “These are Holocaust survivors to babies.

“If Hamas was irradicated, there would be peace for Israel and peace for Palestinians. It would make life better for Palestinians and Israel.”

Mahmood thinks more should be done by the United Nations — i.e. President Joe Biden — to control the conflict.

“There’s been no military intervention,” he said. “The ones supposed to stop it are allies of the ones invading. It’s a state (Israel) vs. a population (Palestinians) locked up in an open-air prison.

“It’s not a fair battle because (Israelis) are taking away aid, water and power.”

Missiles of misinformation

It’s become a mess of misinformation. Israel says it’s warning Palestinians to evacuate areas that the IDF will attack, but Hamas is inhibiting the progress. Palestinians say they are trying to evacuate, but are not allowed to use vehicles so they are forced to walk 10-12 hours to get out of harm’s way. Patients in ICU’s and babies in incubators are not easy to move so many miles. Israel says it’s letting aid through the blockade, but Hamas is confiscating it.

“I don’t think it’s fair to comment on the policies of Israel,” Beiersdorf said after returning home last month. “Unfortunately, people have a distrust for others — certain groups. There’s no end to man’s inhumanity to man.”

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Hamas released three groups of hostages in exchange for Palestians held in Israeli prisons. A four-day cease-fire was declared and extended two days.

The Beiersdorfs are safe in the States with friends and family and even strangers pitching in to make them feel at home. Ian and his wife, Nurit, had planned on taking their family back to Ashdod in December.

“It’s a pretty selfish feeling,” Paul continued, “as a parent, we got our kids out of harm’s way so we are excited. We’ll make sure when they go back, things are settled, but I’m not optimistic.”

— Brian Ludwig is Managing Editor of The Community Word