Reality struck a strong chord through The Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Heroism last month at Riverfront Museum.
“This Yom HaShoah is different,” Jewish Federation of Peoria executive director Sue Katz opened. “We say ‘Never Again’ then it happened again, and it’s still happening. It’s not just ‘over there.’ It’s here, too.”
What’s happening over here?
There’s been almost eight months of reaction to the war in Israel that erupted with the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust that was commemorated at the museum.
The words genocide and ethnic cleansing have leaped out from the history books as war wages in the here and now.
More than a thousand were killed when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Scores of hostages were taken by the terrorists. Names added to lists like the 18 local descendants of Holocaust survivors who lit candles during a solemn ceremony at Yom HaShoah.
Incredibly, there are reports of tens of thousands of dead Palestinians as the Israeli Defense Force mows down the Gaza Strip. Names added to the lists of Middle Eastern casualties after attack after attack in the past 75 years or so.
Wake up to what’s going on
What’s happening over there is impacting us over here. “There’s been a crescendo of attacks coming from everywhere,” said Hind Akar of the Peoria Area World Affairs Council. “Any time we talk about human rights, it’s been dehumanizing and demoralizing.”
The world is woke to it. Students are protesting. What are they talking about? What can we discuss?
Organizers of the pro-Palestine rallies say they are protesting that the Israeli government is ruthlessly blockading Palestinians in Gaza and treats those in the West Bank like second-class citizens.
Saying that is not being anti-Jewish. Criticizing Israeli policy on Gaza/West Bank can not be pro-Hamas. Yearning for Palestinians to be treated humanely in their homeland is not denying the right of Israel to exist.
Calling for a ceasefire is not denying the Holo-caust or ignoring Israel’s right to defend itself.
But chastising someone over IDF attacks because they’re wearing the Star of David is just as wrongheaded. For one, there is a very good chance that said Jewish person — Israelis included — will sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians. The worldwide group Jewish Voices for Peace and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz can attest to that.
Attacking peaceful protestors encamped on campuses is criminal. Fighting with police keeping the peace is also against the law. Police brutality is never the answer.
Real-life experiences
Ida Paluch Kersz was the featured speaker at the Holocaust Remembrance in the Riverfront Museum Auditorium. She was born to a Jewish family in Poland in 1939. Blockaded in the Warsaw Ghetto, she was handed over the fence to a Christian couple so little Ida could evade the Nazis and escape deportation to a concentration camp. Her twin brother also escaped and the pair reunited 53 years later. Tremendous story.
In her younger years, Ida emigrated to Israel — the Promised Land given to the Jewish People after World War II. “I was amazed at how nice it was in Israel,” she said.
Hind Akar escaped from Lebanon during relentless attacks by Israel and came to America almost 30 years ago. She helped found Peoria for Palestine and has protested the Israeli government.
“I grew up under the sword,” she said. “Every day, Israeli fighter jets flew overhead — breaking the sound barrier. You did not know if they were going to drop bombs or not.”
Akar’s life experiences may have sown a deep-seeded resentment of the Israeli government, but she is decidedly not anti-Semitic. She joined Jewish Voices for Peace.
“It’s a multi-religious land in the Middle East,” she said. “We are not anti-Jew.”
But anti-Semitism is on the rise in this country as prejudiced people sling mud (and worse) at Jews because of the actions of a nation across the world. Reciprocal Islamophobia is prevalent as prejudiced people accuse Palestinians and other Arabs of being pro-Hamas.
Ignorant. Is it that there would be no war without Hamas or that there would be no Hamas without apartheid?
What does it all mean?
The issues are so twisted that the president of the United States can be accused on his left flank of kowtowing to Israel and funneling U.S. tax dollars to the whim of its prime minister, and at the same time the leader of the free world is attacked on his right for absolutely abandoning America’s greatest ally in the region.
Many in the medias, though, are making a big mistake to discount these student protestors as dumb kids. These “children” are Ivy Leaguers. They’ve graduated from the top of their class. They know what they’re doing. Have faith in that.
But their message is muddled when loose cannons shout “Death to Israel” or “Death to America” is going too far even if U.S. monies are funding Israel’s army. Calling the student encampments “Little Gazas” or “Hamas Huts” serves no purpose.
It’s inflammatory. Know it.
We cannot forget the historic suffering of both the Israeli and Palestinian people. We need to recognize the humanity in them all.
Three hundred thousand Jews were rounded up in the Warsaw Ghetto and sent to Treblinka extermination camp in the summer of 1942. Ida Kersz and her brother are part of the Forgotten Children. They spent a lifetime searching for their identity in the aftermath of the Holocaust. “I was born a Jew. I suffered as a Jew. I will die as a Jew,” she said.
The Palestinians are a forgotten people, trapped in a land at the tip of the spear of this conflict by a government that has been oppressing them for decades. Seven hundred fifty thousand were displaced to create the Israeli state around 1948. The Nakba is observed in May as well.
The Holocaust Memorial outside the Riverfront Museum encases six million buttons to represent the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany.
These people need peace, love and understanding instead of being lazily labeled a terrorist sympathizer or an apartheid enabler.
Our words matter
White Rose Society Essay Contest winners were announced at the end of the Yom HaShoah service. Contestants researched youngsters who were affected by the Holocaust in Europe and wrote about them. We could learn a lot from these children, who, luckily, are our future.
“All life matters, no matter what race or religion it is,” concluded Blessed Sacrament School student Clara Oswald.
“No matter who you are or what you believe in, we all need people who will stand up for us and suffer with us out of love,” declared Samantha Lewis from Lincoln Middle School.
The original White Rose Society was made up of German students who campaigned against Nazi oppression. When you see something, say something, right?
Kenidie Evans, who attends Lincoln Junior High, wrote a winner when she finished: “As a society, when we see discrimination, we must fight against it. One small act of simply speaking out against discrimination can make a difference. We can make a difference. We have to try.
“That is the only way to prevent another event like the Holocaust from ever recurring.”
— Brian Ludwig is Managing Editor of The Community Word