Sadness, Fear, Anger Linger After Oct. 7 Attack and Ongoing Violence
When Islamic Center Trustee Thasin Sardar saw news of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli citizens by Hamas, a militant group based in the Gaza Strip, he was shocked at the violence and death being broadcast globally.
“I was shocked to hear about the attacks and the initial claims that clearly indicated there was loss of innocent human lives,” Sardar said. “I was hoping that minimal lives were lost. I was in disbelief.”
As events continued to unfold, Sardar began to consider what this would mean for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas launched the attacks from.
“Then reality started setting in,” Sardar said. “I was thinking about the endless cycle of violence that is perpetuated, [when] an attack is usually followed by retaliatory attacks. I feared that this was going to turn into a human tragedy, not only what happened that [Oct. 7], but when it was going to be avenged. The response I feared was going to be far worse, with more innocent lives being lost on the Palestinians side.”
For Rabbi Amy Bigman of East Lansing’s Shaarey Zedek synagogue, the attacks were “horrifying,” falling on what was supposed to be a time of celebration in the Jewish community.
“The news of the Oct. 7 attack was devastating to Jews worldwide,” Bigman said. “Jews consider ourselves family, no matter where we live.”
Bigman explained that the attacks by Hamas not only came on the Jewish Sabbath — a treasured day of rest in Judaism, particularly among more orthodox observers like many in Israel — but on the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah.
“Simchat Torah is a festival on which we celebrate that God gave us scripture to teach us how to live in our world,” Bigman said. “Including the teaching that we are to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ and ‘treat the stranger in your community as your own.’ We take those words very seriously.”
Elsewhere in East Lansing, co-directors of the Michigan State University (MSU) Chabad Student Center, Rabbi Benzion Shemtov and his wife, Simi Shemtov, were preparing for a Simchat Torah celebration when they heard news of the Oct. 7 attacks. They quickly moved to shift that night’s planned festivities to a gathering that made space for mourning. Close to 100 students and MSU community members gathered that night in recognition of the losses in Israel.
“We have to respond,” Benzion Shemtov said. “We may not have the right answer for what’s happening, but we still have to be here for our students in whatever capacity they need.”
In the days following Oct. 7, the Chabad Student Center continued its support of students through a different avenue: Simi Shemtov began sharing a daily prayer for peace on the organization’s social media accounts.
“Everyone was reading the news all day and getting overwhelmed by it, so [the prayers] were something that you could do and take a step back — not just read about and get consumed with,” Benzion said. “That connection that you feel when you pray [is] hopefully bringing more peace and light into the world.”
As the violence escalates in the Gaza Strip, the East Lansing Islamic Center calls upon congregants for solidarity with Palestinian citizens.
Around 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack. Since then, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, according to the United Nations Office of Coordinated Human Affairs (OCHA). OCHA has reported that more over 40% of Palestinian deaths were children.
“To put the current violence in a local context, the Gaza Strip is a quarter of the size of Ingham County and seven times its population,” Sardar said. “This is one of the most highly densely populated places in the world. Half the people were asked to retreat to the other half of the country of the Gaza strip, but where are they going to live? We are watching a human catastrophe unfold.”
As this violence unfolded, Sardar, along with other members of the Islamic Center’s Board of Trustees, Executive Board, and their Imam (worship leader), knew their community needed support and grounding.
“This conflict is not just nationalistic,” Sardar said. “The land around Jerusalem is considered holy land in Islam. Not only Palestinians but [all Muslims] have reverence for the sanctity of this place. It is that sense of attachment to this place that drives emotions [regarding this conflict] for the Islamic community around the world.”
It was the Islamic Center’s worship leader, Imam Sohail Chaudhry, who was responsible for addressing the community through the sermon given Oct. 13, the Friday after the initial attacks.
“I realized that the community was going through feelings of pain, anger, frustration and helplessness,” Chaudhry said. “Many from the youth were confused about what was happening and why, so I dedicated the Friday sermon to addressing these concerns.”
Chaudhry’s sermon, or khutba, took a two-pronged approach. The first segment of the sermon focused on the “religious attachment” of Muslims to the Holy Land, Sardar said, while the second expressed solidarity with Palestinians. A video of the full sermon is available here.
“The violence that had erupted in the Middle East saddens us all,” Chaudhry began the khutba. “Many of us are hurt, extremely hurt. We are in pain. We are in grief. We are trying to make sense of what has happened, we are trying to make sense of how we should respond. We are trying to make sense of our course of action. What should we do? What is our responsibility?
“This conflict did not begin yesterday,” he continued. “This conflict did not begin last week, or last month, or last year. Over 50 years of illegal cruel occupation of Palestinian lands, that is the root cause of this conflict. We need to be the voice of the people of Palestine, because especially [in the U.S.] they have no voice in the media. So who will be the voice of the people of Palestine, if not me and not you?”
Vigils and protests mourn Israeli deaths, others advocate for the end of the siege in Gaza and condemn U.S. support of Israel.
This is a call that has been heard not only in East Lansing, but globally. Vigils for Israeli deaths held at MSU and local synagogues in early October have been followed by protests advocating for the end of the siege in the Gaza strip and condemning U.S. support of Israel. Such protests include a Nov. 4 demonstration in the nation’s capitol attended by tens of thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators, according to the Associated Press.
Two similarly-themed protests were held on the State Capitol lawn in downtown Lansing, organized by MSU student-led organizations the Arab Cultural Society (ACS) and Students United for Palestinian Rights (SUPR). The first protest on Oct. 12, five days after the attacks, was attended by over 100 people, while the second Oct. 29 protest calling for a ceasefire abroad was made up of more than 400 MSU students, Lansing community members and Islamic Center congregants, according to the State News. Together they chanted, “When people are occupied, resistance is justified,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Guest speakers at the Oct. 29 protest included Michigan House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash, representative of Michigan’s District 9 in Metro Detroit, who joined the Saturday protest to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Aiyash called for action from the White House in negotiating peace moving forward, naming President Joe Biden in his demands, and pointing to the principles of justice and equality outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
“If we are the leader of the free world, and I believe America is,” Aiyash said, “then we must demand that America fight for freedom and respect and dignity for everybody. And that includes the Palestinian people.”
Aiyash emphasized that the violence abroad called for an awareness of every individual in Lansing and Michigan, urging protestors to “stand shoulder to shoulder as Americans, shoulder to shoulder as Michiganders,” and call for a “ceasefire now.”
The conflict recently hit even closer to home for members of the local Islamic community. On Oct. 31, the Islamic Center East Lansing announced on its Facebook page that Tariq Thabet, a 2021-2022 MSU Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow who regularly worshiped in East Lansing, was killed by an Israeli airstrike along with 15 other members of his family.
“It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the passing away of Tariq Thabet, his wife and children, his parents, and several other family members in Central Gaza City,” the post reads. “Inna lilahi wa inna ilaihi rajioun. From God we come, and unto him we return. Tariq and his family were killed as a result of Israeli bombing in central Gaza, a region people from the North of Gaza are asked to evacuate to.”
The Lansing Area Peace Center supports calls for a ceasefire while maintaining their opposition to antisemitsm.
The Lansing Area Peace Education Center (PEC) released a statement on Oct. 9, outlining the context of the current violence and action items going forward.
“The PEC is horrified by the vicious fighting, death and destruction currently unfolding in Israel and Gaza. It condemns both sides for using violence in their 75-year-long failure to find a fair negotiated settlement addressing legitimate Palestinian grievances rather than both sides pursuing a seemingly endless cycle of increasing violence and then temporary lulls in violence followed by worsening conditions for Palestinians. But the PEC understands that as long as efforts to find non-violent solutions to legitimate Palestinian grievances remain unsuccessful, people who feel oppressed will resort to violence. The only way to prevent more violence is to address those legitimate grievances.”
The statement goes on to outline necessary actions from the Biden administration to manage the conflict, as well as emphasize the need for a peaceful, two-state solution.
Statement author and PEC board co-chair Nelson Brown said the PEC has not received any negative feedback from community members. He also clarified that the sentiments expressed by the PEC are in no way based in antisemitism.
“You’ll find that those of us who are in the peace movement seeking social justice here and around the world will be the strongest opponents of antisemitism,” Brown said. “But we won’t be bullied into not offering reasonable criticism of Israel because we’re going to be accused of antisemitism.”
Sardar expresses similar sentiments, again emphasizing his condemnation of Hamas’ violence, but arguing that the organization is not representative of Palestinians, Muslims or the pro-Palestine movement.
“Sweeping everything under the rug of antisemitism does injustice to the very cause of antisemitism that we are all standing up against,” Sardar said. “We have to contextualize what happened and why it happened, and address the root cause. Otherwise the endless cycle of violence will continue.”
Brown maintains that a peaceful, two-state solution is the only way out of the ongoing violence.
“The Palestinians have to be given some kind of political entity, even if it’s bastardized, to secure them some kind of national identity and rights,” Brown said. “Without some effort to find that position and give Palestinians some legitimacy and sense of their own self-determination, this struggle will continue.”
There is a long-standing friendship between the EL Islamic Center and Jewish community.
Locally, Sardar points to the long-standing friendship between the Islamic Center and the Jewish community in East Lansing.
“Our relationship with the local Jewish community here has been built over many years, and that friendship, mutual trust and respect will continue regardless of what happens overseas,” Sardar said.
Chaudhry notes he has personally reached out to two Rabbis in the area and expressed solidarity with the Islamic Center’s Jewish neighbors, “condemning violence and loss of innocent Jewish lives.”
“We condemn hate crimes against our Jewish neighbors and rise in antisemitism,” Chaudhry said. “We hope to continue providing education and build bridges of peace and understanding.”
Bigman, founder of what is now known as the Interfaith Clergy Association of Greater Lansing (ICA), points to years of partnership between herself and Chaudhry. This includes a shared vigil following the Tree of Life synagogue murders when Chaudhry stood at Shaarey Zedek’s pulpit as a representative of the ICA.
“Locally, Imam Sohail Chaudhry and I have worked on many projects and programs since he arrived in East Lansing,” Bigman said. “We will continue to work together to make our East Lansing community more understanding and accepting of our differences while also recognizing that our shared humanity brings us together.”
Lansing Area Christian clergy members express solidarity and offer financial support to their Jewish and Muslim neighbors.
Christian clergy members shared a joint statement Nov. 7 when the ICA gathered at Eastminster Presbyterian Church to express “support and love for local Jewish and Muslim communities.”
The Rev. Dr. Kit Carlson of All Saints Episcopal Church read the statement aloud from a podium, while members of the ICA gathered behind her.
“We proclaim our support and love for our Jewish and Muslim colleagues and neighbors,” Carlson said. “We share their grief at the loss of life after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, and we share their grief at the ongoing loss of life in Gaza after Israeli attacks, and we grieve every loss of life in the region. We pray for peace, for an end to suffering and violence.
“We are alarmed that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is fueling incidences of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia here at home… we stand against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in any form. In this local community, our interfaith association has helped us to become friends and partners together in building bonds that cross faiths and cultures. We will stand united against any threats to our Muslim or Jewish friends, against any intimidation or provocation.”
The Rev. Melanie Carey of the University United Methodist Church and ICA vice president, shared her hope the statement would “promote dialogue, listening and understanding” within the East Lansing community and serve as a model for interfaith cooperation.
The Rev. Alice Fleming Townley, Mission and Justice Coordinator for the Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church, followed up the ICA’s joint statement by sharing the history of past interfaith partnerships in the organization, particularly during difficult times.
“Religion can be used to justify hatred,” Fleming Townley said. “So we are faith leaders claiming our place and our power to say, as people of faith, we’re called to build bridges, to listen to each other, to build relationships and to focus on what we can do together. Our sacred texts all call us to love one another. We show up for each other at times like this.”
The Christian clergy members of the ICA are also collecting donations to support security costs for Lansing Area mosques and synagogues, costs which Fleming Townley notes the Christian sites of worship are privileged not to need. The Rev. Kristin Stroble of Eastminster Presbyterian Church is coordinating the fundraising. Donations can be made through Eastminster’s online portal or deposited in person, marked for the “Interfaith Security Costs Fund.
“We’re coming together to say in this community, we do not stand for hate and bigotry, that we are called to love our neighbor, and to welcome everyone of all faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities,” Stroble said.
Chaudhry, Sardar and Bigman pray for peace abroad and at home.
Going forward, Chaudhry and Sardar are looking to continue supporting the Islamic Center community, offering daily prayers, “voicing [their] concerns about the plight of the Palestinian people to the media,” and collecting funds to support humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“My main concerns are related to the safety and wellbeing of the Muslim community as hate crimes against Muslims increase,” Chaudhry said. “A new wave of Islamophobia and hatred against Muslims is expected after recent events. I am also concerned about the spiritual and mental health of community members due to witnessing trauma unfold in the Middle East. I intend to continue providing spiritual healing and Islamic guidance to congregants.”
Bigman, too, is turning her prayers toward peace and safety for all civilians, regardless of nationality or religion.
“We pray for the quick and safe return of the hostages and for an end to this war,” Bigman said. “Israelis — Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze — deserve to live safely within their country’s borders. Palestinians deserve to live safely as well, and we mourn the loss of innocent Palestinian lives as well as innocent Israeli lives.”
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