SAN DIEGO (SDJW) – Jewish community members are asking various institutions and organizations to indicate their support for Israel and opposition to Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists who murdered over 1,000 civilians and also took approximately 150 hostages.
Jason Bercovitch, Andrea Beth Damsky and Sheri Sachs are asking fellow members of the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee to condemn “in the strongest possible terms the massacre of innocent Israeli and American civilians by the Hamas terrorist organization”; oppose “all efforts to justify terrorism and celebrations of terrorist attacks”; and remain “committed to fighting all forms of hate, calling it out wherever it exists, ensuring that all members of the Jewish community are safe, included and respected within the San Diego County Democratic Party.”
The measure will be considered by the Democratic group at its 5:15 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17/
Meanwhile, Susan Lapidus, executive director of the Murray Galinson San Diego Israel Initiative, is circulating among college presidents in the greater San Diego area a letter from the presidents of nine universities in Israel denouncing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“This was an act of singular barbaric violence which must be thoroughly renounced,” wrote the presidents of Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Weizmann Institute of Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Open University of Israel, Ariel University, Tel Aviv University, University of Haifa, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
“On the Sabbath and Sukkoth holiday and 50 years almost to the day after the fateful Yom Kippur War, Hamas unleashed a surprise rocket attack on Israel from Gaza, reaching as far north as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, while simultaneously Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants breached the border and brutally massacred those in the communities just across the border inside Israel – women, elderly, children, young families,” their letter said.
“Kids attending a music festival, peace activists, elderly people in their 80’s, toddlers. Hundreds. Many were slaughtered on the spot, others huddled in their homes for hours before being found and killed or were held hostage in their homes or communities under constant threat of death, while still others were taken captive and brought into Gaza. Horrific videos posted by Hamas from Gaza show the parading of injured hostages in the street to great cheering, show cruelty to children, taunting of the elderly, show rape and torture.”
The Israeli presidents appealed to their colleagues in academia to take a clear stand.
“We have heard of initiatives undertaken by faculty and students on some campuses in countries outside of Israel to support Hamas and Islamic Jihad actions, and we understand that there has not always been a clear response from academic leadership to such signs of support. We hope that you will agree with us that there can be no support for such terror organizations in Western democratic societies, just like there is no support for Al Qaeda or the Islamic State. There can be no support for purposeful massacres of civilian populations, or for the taking civilian hostages.”
“As the guardians of higher education and academia, actively pursuing knowledge for the benefit of humanity, as role models for and teachers of the leadership of tomorrow, we all share the responsibility to educate our communities,” the Israeli university presidents said. “What values are we passing on? Freedom of speech and academic freedom, absolutely. But a stand against barbaric violence perpetrated on civilian populations? We know you join us in renouncing such acts of violence.”
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San Diego Jewish World staff report