Eastern Connecticut families condemn attack on Israel
Oct. 9—Eastern Connecticut residents with loved ones in Israel are reeling as the death toll mounts in Israel and Gaza in the wake of a savage surprise attack Saturday against Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Some residents here are reporting family members missing while others have family members being drafted into the Israeli military as Israel strikes back at Hamas, the group claiming responsibility for hundreds of Israeli deaths and kidnappings.
Jerry Fischer of Waterford, the former head of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, who was in Israel with a group earlier this year, has two cousins missing. The husband and wife ― Liat and Aviv ― were living on kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, one of the communal settlements that have come under siege. The couple was unaccounted for after an evacuation, and the fear is they were taken or killed, Fischer said. The couple's children are safe.
"We're all worried sick," Fischer said.
Social media is full of messages from family seeking answers about missing friends and relatives.
In Tel Aviv, New London-raised Erica Weiner, 30, has spent the past few days hunkered down in her apartment, where the bedroom doubles as a bomb shelter with a steel door and iron curtain over the window.
A rocket fell Sunday just two blocks away, she said, hitting the street in an area usually far removed from the violence along the border. The missile caused no major damage and no injuries, but Weiner said it was a wake-up call.
Israelis have been instructed to stay close to a shelter.
"Most of the time I stay home with friends who do not have a shelter close to them and we try to watch movies and chat and live as much a normal life as possible," Weiner said in a Facebook messenger exchange with The Day. "So at least I have some comfort for when I sleep, although I haven't been sleeping much."
Weiner, who moved to Israel six years ago, teaches English as a second language and babysits. She said Israelis depend on the Iron Dome missile defense system and Israeli Defense Forces to protect its citizens from incursions, but Saturday's attack was what she described as a "pure invasion," attacking people because they are Jewish.
"It's very personal. Gazans have produced videos and photos posing with the victims of their terror showing how proud they are of what they've done," she said.
As much as she wants to be back home in New London with her family, Weiner said, "I personally feel that I have a duty to stay."
"Even though I'm not physically fighting against Hamas in any way, if I were to choose to leave the country it would give them the power," she said. "The power to overturn the only Jewish state and country, a country that has fought to exist in the most trying times, a country that only wants to live a peaceful co-existent life."
Weiner hopes the conflict ends peacefully but thinks there will be major bloodshed on both sides before it's over.
"As sad as that makes me, we (as a country) are standing up and fighting for our right to survive and exist in a world that ultimately doesn't support us," Weiner said. "It's extremely difficult to have so much hate in our lives daily but we have to fight. We have to win. There's no other option."
Back in New London, Erica's father, Barry Weiner, the longtime chairman of the city's Water and Water Pollution Control Authority, said he and his wife remain in contact with his daughter constantly. The conversations are often interrupted by sirens.
"It's a horrible situation to have to live like that, moment to moment," Barry Weiner said. "You're not dealing with a normal adversary. You're dealing with someone with no respect for life, someone only interested in destroying Israel."
"We're biting our nails," Barry Weiner said. "When she decided to make aliyah (move) to Israel we were both very happy and concerned for her. She has felt very safe. But this one, everyone was so surprised at the severity of it."
Israeli-born Ella Sackett of East Lyme, a mother of three, said her 24-year-old son Daniel, who has dual U.S. and Israel citizenship, was called this weekend to serve in the Israeli Army. He is among a record 300,000 reservists being called to duty in response to the attacks from Hamas, Reuters reported. In Israel, most citizens over the age of 18 are required to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. Daniel Sackett served his mandatory service and is working as a counselor at a youth boarding school in Israel.
Sackett has numerous family members still living in Israel and said she has been glued to news of the latest events of the attacks, watching with horror as new revelations of atrocities committed against Israelis are revealed.
"My family is OK. They go in and out of bomb shelters at night and during the day," Sackett said. "The things going on and the stories we hear are just an unimaginable horror. I don't have words to describe the sickness that is going on. We're a small country and everyone in Israel knows someone that lost someone."
Ella Sackett said her hope is that her son will be sent to an area of Israel that is not in the middle of the action.
Even as the terrorist attacks against Israel are widely condemned, there have also been pro-Palestinian rallies in places like New Haven and New York. The U.S.'s largest Muslim organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is calling for an acknowledgment of loss of life on both sides of the conflict, asking for "an immediate ceasefire," and for the U.S. "to reassert its leadership role as a negotiator in pursuit of a lasting peace."
"This entails addressing the root causes of violence, terminating Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, and ending the Israeli government's apartheid policies," CAIR said in a statement.
Rachel Levy, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, said the attacks in Israel came on the Sabbath and the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which celebrates the books of the Bible written by Moses.
"Everybody was in vacation mode, enjoying the holiday. That's what made it more surprising to people," Levy said of the attack on Israel.
"This is the worst I've seen in my lifetime. I have seen a lot in 50 years but nothing like this coordinated effort from Gaza where people broke in and kidnapped people or are taking hostages," she said. "This is truly a unique, coordinated effort and the Israelis were not prepared for this level of attack."
"I'm hoping that Israel has a swift response. It has a right and responsibility to respond to this devastating assault and protect its citizens from terrorism," Levy said.
The Jewish Federation, she said, is helping to organize prayer vigils and solidarity rallies "to keep the community together to stand with Israel."
Fischer said his hope is that eventually there will be negotiated peace, "but in the short term the Palestinians have to get new leaders. Hamas is not going to lead them to peace."
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