Southern California Jews, Muslims solemnly remember Oct. 7 on anniversary of attack

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As the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel and the beginning of a subsequent war arrives, many Southern Californians remain filled with grief, anger and, at times, hope.

Most want peace, though on what terms is a source of continued tension in synagogues, mosques, many local communities and on college campuses.

The profound loss of life – starting with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and followed by Israeli strikes in Gaza and an ensuing humanitarian crisis – has created a situation in which many feel there can be no winners and the moral high ground is shaky at best.

Los Angeles resident Daryn Copeland, who is Jewish, said he has observed the “deep mourning and grief for the mass death and devastation” in the past year.

Copeland, who is involved with the organization Jewish Voice for Peace, which is critical of Israel’s occupation of the Palestine region, said he is worried about the “continued escalation” in the Mideast. He said he hopes that after a harrowing last year, his community “would do anything possible to stop further terror and destruction.”

Mahmoud Harmoush, an imam at the Islamic Center of Riverside, discussed the Oct. 7 attack with his community at a Jumu’ah Friday prayer service on Oct. 4.

“It’s a very sad anniversary. The whole world is watching; life is wasted. When will we say enough is enough in killing children, women, and civilians?” he said before the service. “It’s a very sad day for both sides of the conflict. … Where is our humanity?”

Longstanding suffering

Statewide, attitudes toward Jewish and Muslim people — among others — have suffered, according to the latest report from the Calfornia Department of Justice, which looks at hate crimes over the last year.

Anti-Jewish bias rose 52.9%, from 189 in 2022 to 289 in 2023, while attacks against Muslim groups rose from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023, the report said. Also, religiously motivated hate crimes rose 30%, from 303 in 2022 to 394 in 2023.

“It’s creating what I feel is an even more unsafe situation for all Jews,” Copeland, of Jewish Voice for Peace, said of Israel’s actions in the past year. “What Israel is currently doing is not what the Jewish religion has taught me growing up. My religion teaches about protecting the sanctity of life and all human life.”

Ella Ben Hagai, a social psychologist and associate professor at Cal State Fullerton who has long researched the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, called the Oct. 7 date a “profoundly depressing” reminder of ongoing “warmongering” from global leaders.

“There are protests for a ceasefire and return hostages, an overall escalation of this war … and in recent days it’s become clear that it’s become an existential threat,” Ben Hagai – who is Israeli/Jewish – said. “It’s really depressing that leaders are able to sustain the war … and it’s so sad because elsewhere we feel helpless.

“And the universities are very enmeshed in this conflict – the relationship between people who support Israel, support the war, and those horrified by the massacre of Palestinians.”

Jews find comfort through community, healing

As Jewish people worldwide celebrate the High Holidays in October – including Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur – many are mourning the situation in Israel while finding strength in community.

In Hollywood, the nonprofit Jewish Family Service LA hosted a Rosh Hashanah gathering for Holocaust survivors through its Café Europa social program. Nearly 50 elderly survivors came to the luncheon, eating traditional foods and sweets, singing the “Shalom Aleichem” and other lively songs, and praying Hebrew blessings for a better upcoming year.

Many Jewish leaders have called the events of Oct. 7 the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. Senior Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz, from Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, shared about his experiences going to Israel four times since that day, and shared an encouraging message for Rosh Hashanah, calling it an “optimistic, hopeful time of year.”

“As difficult as it is for Jewish people this year, with the attacks on Israel, the rising tide of antisemitism here in the U.S., it’s still incumbent on us as Jews to look at the world in a hopeful manner,” Lebovitz, 45, told the survivors. “This has been a year that we did not imagine could happen after the stories of your life. We thought those stories belonged in your memories, in history books; stories that you taught younger generations. We didn’t think it would be stories that we would experience ourselves.”

Amid the sweet traditions and cheer, attendees said they were hopeful for a solution amid conflict.

“The Oct. 7 attacks bring up a lot of unpleasant memories,” said survivor Maria Ross. “I wish for peace going into this new year. If you have peace, you have everything.”

Risa Igelfeld, a 106-year-old Holocaust survivor, said that mourning the Jews has been “just terrible.” But she was grateful to be with other survivors on Rosh Hashanah.

Jewish Family Service LA also offered mental health support for the elderly survivors after the Oct. 7 attacks, said Susan Belgrade, who has attended Café Europa’s weekly gatherings for over a decade.

Honoring Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays at the same time as the one-year anniversary means looking ahead, Belgrade said, to hopefully have a better year. Jewish people are praying specifically “to overcome tragedy, and derive courage from each other … which is needed now more than ever. People have told me, (Café Europa) is a place where I come to heal.”

Other Jewish organizations and community centers across the Southland are honoring the attack’s anniversary through healing art and memorial services.

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles (JFEDLA) unveiled an “L.A. Remembers 10/7” wall installation at its Wilshire Boulevard headquarters, featuring a giant yellow ribbon covering the side of the building.

The federation, in partnership with the Israeli American Council and other Jewish groups, is hosting an Oct. 7 anniversary event at the Saban Theater on Monday night, which will include Jewish community leaders and local elected officials to honor survivors and stand in solidarity with hostages, organizers said.

“As a global Jewish community, when something happens to one of us, not matter where in the world they are, it feels like it happens to all of us,” JFEDLA President and CEO Rabbi Noah Farkas said. “It is not just important, but sacred, to remember the victims and survivors of these attacks … these days will be both difficult and affirming for our people. For it is at this time promises are made to be together, to do better, and stand up for what is right.”

Other memorial ceremonies across the region are planned for Monday, Oct. 7, including a dance-heavy tribute at the Merage Jewish Community Center in Irvine to honor victims and hostages. The Chabad Jewish Community Center of Riverside is also planning a memorial event featuring a former IDF special forces commander, Dvir Dangur, who served in Gaza and will share his story, organizers said.

The Stephen Wise Temple in West L.A. is hosting a special “Night of Remembrance” memorial service to commemorate the attack. The temple also hosted a community-wide vigil after the initial attacks.

Senior Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback called it a “mitzvah — a religious obligation — to remember and bear witness … and continue to raise our voices.” Jews and allies showing up for community events like these “can strengthen and help one another move from grief to resolve,” he said, especially during the Jewish New Year of “hope and resilience.”

Erik Ludwig, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Orange County, agreed: “As we mark this difficult anniversary, we want the local Jewish community to know that they are not alone. We are here for one another, and together we can ensure that our voices are heard, our history is honored and our future remains hopeful.”

Faith as a source of solace

Local Muslim and Arab American communities, and those in support of a free Palestine, are solemnly looking back on the past year.

For Corona resident and Muslim community organizer Shaheen Nassar, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks is heavy. Nassar, who is Palestinian, said he lost 17 family members to the military attacks, including one who was 8 years old.

“My religion is a source of solace for me. As a Muslim, our religion is committed to justice,” Nassar, 34, said. “We have this strong sense of justice – we are morally obligated to intervene when an injustice occurs. This is an obvious case of injustice.”

Another source of comfort for Nassar is the solidarity he found among Jewish, Catholic, Christian and agnostic people who have been vocal in their support for Palestinians, where he is relieved “to see unity against injustices,” he said, “but I’m also in a state of mourning and horror.”

Harmoush, the imam from Riverside, said that talking with his community about the state of the Mideast conflict is “important for any religious person or leader … whether you’re a Jewish rabbi, a Christian pastor or preacher, or any humanist.”

This war “will end, one way or the other,” he added. “In our faith, we believe that the will of God will be fulfilled.”

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the L.A. chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), also condemned the ongoing injustice, calling for peace and an end to genocide and rising Islamophobia. The organization saw 8,061 reports of anti-Muslim hate across the U.S. in 2023, a 56% increase from 2022, and connected it to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Ayloush noted that the Palestinian struggle did not begin in the last year, and is “an ongoing 76-year-long dispossession of the Palestinian people.”

“It’s not enough to mourn innocent people who have lost their lives over the past year, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘What has our country’s role been in this ongoing tragedy?’”

Ayloush said that many mosques in Orange County and Los Angeles have held prayer sessions for both Israeli and Palestinian lives lost.

“The goal is to renew our commitment to ending this occupation in order for the people of that region — Israelis and Palestinians alike — and their neighbors, to live in peace,” he said.

While last weekend featured a protest in Los Angeles involving many who called for a free Palestine and the end of Israeli strikes in Gaza, there were other ways some spoke out as well.

The OC-based Arab American Civic Council, which advocates for Arab and Palestinian American rights, organized a solidarity concert in Yorba Linda for Sunday evening, Oct. 6. Organizers said the event, featuring an ensemble of traditional and contemporary Palestinian/Arabic music and dance, would “embody the spirit of hope and solidarity” and proceeds will support the council’s continued activism efforts against hate.

Before the show, founder and director Rashad Al-Dabbagh said that reflecting on the past year, and decades “of ethnic cleansing and land theft” in the region, serves as “a day of mourning and a call to action.”

“In marking the anniversary, the community reflects on the trauma and devastation, but also draws strength from the resilience of Palestinians. This moment amplifies our commitment to justice, serving as a reminder that we must continue to mobilize, despite the attempts to erase us. The anniversary highlights the ongoing struggle, and for our community … ensuring that the fight for freedom and dignity continues.”

Al-Dabbagh hoped that attendees would take away “a deep sense of solidarity, resilience and pride” in their heritage, through art “elevating voices of resistance and survival, showing that despite the ongoing genocide, Palestinian culture thrives and remains a powerful force for unity and hope.”

“Resilience is about standing together and drawing strength from one another in the face of unimaginable challenges. In the past year, we have faced the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the assault on Lebanon, and rising hate incidents targeting our communities. Yet, through it all, we have continued to fight for justice, refusing to be silenced.”

Solidarity despite differences

As a psychologist, Cal State Fullerton’s Ben Hagai said that people need to learn that differing perspectives “makes for better activism.” Looking at the conflict openly, and through a human lens, “to be able to see the complexities … is a good thing.”

With this war, “the world is waking up to the way people experience the trauma of racism, antisemitism, massacres, genocide … it doesn’t put anyone in a high moral ground. You still might do some bad things – and we have to be able to account for that, and work to not inflict our pain on others, just because we’ve been in pain,” she said.

“Let’s accept that there are different truths, and that’s OK for activism and advocacy and social justice,” Ben Hagai continued. “I could see both the Palestinian side, the Jewish suffering … and understanding both doesn’t make me complicit in the occupation or genocide.”