'Suffering together': Crowd of 3,000 gathers in Scottsdale in support of Israel

Jewish leaders invited the community to join in prayer and support for Israel on Monday evening at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale.

At least 3,000 people came together, according to organizers

"All of Israel cries, wails today," said Rabbi Stephen Kahn. "This, the events of the last few days, was the pogrom of the 21st century."

The board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix as well as other leaders aimed to provide messages of hope, resilience and perseverance to those in attendance on the campus's field.

The event drew both community members who observe the Jewish faith and those who do not. Federico Saenz fell into the latter category. He said he came out to show solidarity with a group he believes is suffering unjustly.

“I came to support my Jewish friends,” Saenz said. “It’s important to me not only to support people that I know who are Jewish, but also to support all people who are in danger, who are ostracized, who are alienated — (anyone) living their lives as God wants them to live, but who are also attacked for that.”

The gathering came after Palestinian militants' surprise attack on Saturday proved to be one of the most significant assaults on Israel in decades. Rockets fired from Gaza, pounded parts of southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas militants entered Israeli areas near the Gaza border by land, air and sea.

Dozens of Israelis, and likely some Americans, were taken hostage during the attacks, officials on both sides said. The death toll includes more than 900 in Israel and more than 680 in Gaza, including fighters and civilians from both sides, as of Monday. Each side reported thousands of people wounded.

Many of those who gathered in Scottsdale had family or friends who had been directly impacted by the attack. One of the attendees, Sarah Sandlaufer, told The Arizona Republic that if "you throw a stone into a group of anyone here — somebody knows somebody who was impacted."

"We all have a friend, family, somebody there that's impacted. So if one of us dies, we're all kind of suffering together," she said.

Benny Avrahami was one of those attendees with family members stuck in the grip of the conflict. He echoed Sandlaufer's sentiment that the gathering was needed to unite a reeling community amid the chaos overseas. He said the bloody attack on Saturday should be a wake-up call for world leaders.

Why is Israel at war and who are Hamas? Here's what Arizonans need to know

"I have my two kids in Israel right now. I have many relatives (there) and I know people that were directly affected by this," said Benny Avrahami, who attended Monday night's event in Scottsdale. "The world needs to wake up and to understand what's happening here. ... You have evil forces in the world. There has always been evil. And evil needs to be dealt with like evil. Hopefully, the world will do that."

Saturday's attacks set off panic among Israelis trying to track down their loved ones and Palestinians fearing more devastating retaliatory strikes in Gaza. As of Sunday evening, the Israeli Security Cabinet had officially declared war, and more than 123,000 people in Gaza were displaced due to fear and concerns about the destruction of their homes, according to the United Nations.

On Monday, the Israeli military's effort to hunt down militants intensified with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordering a “complete siege” on Gaza. Electricity, fuel, and access to water and food were ordered to be cut off in the impoverished strip, home to more than 2 million Palestinians, including nearly 1 million children.

'Resisting oppression': Phoenix activists gather in solidarity with Palestinian liberation

People gathered at Tempe Beach Park on Sunday afternoon to show support for Palestinians following an attack on Israel that sparked an intensifying war.

Dominic Rios, an event organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the community event's main purpose was to educate people about the conflict and demonstrate support for the Palestinian liberation movement, which seeks the establishment of Arab statehood in the West Bank and Gaza strip, which are Palestinian territories militarily occupied and controlled by Israel since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War.

"(We want to) spread the message and get people to understand the occupation and what's going on in that country right now, which we hold as, essentially, an act of genocide," Rios said.

Why is Israel at war and who are Hamas? Here's what Arizonans need to know

About 50 attendees at the event created signs, banners and crafts with messages of solidarity with Palestinians that read "Tempe stands with Gaza," "From the U.S. to Palestine, settler colonialism must end," and "Justice for Palestine."

The gathering was led by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Anakbayan Phoenix, Students for Justice in Palestine at Arizona State University, and MECHA de ASU, among other organizations.

Different speakers shared their personal experiences and thoughts about the conflict throughout the event as they also expressed encouragement for Palestinians, particularly for Gaza's inhabitants.

A female ASU student, who is from the region, said her father's and mother's families suffered violent displacements during the Israeli occupation after World War II. Her father's family was bombed in a raid, and her great-grandfather was killed. Her mother's family had their crops destroyed and their homes taken.

She added that her family lived in a refugee camp in north Jordan following the forced displacement and was granted refugee cards by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East. UNRWA is a United Nations agency that seeks to offer relief and access to essential resources to Palestinian refugees displaced by the 1948 Palestinian war and subsequent conflicts.

Activist leaders who spoke at the event said Saturday night's attacks against Israel were not unprecedented but rather the result of prolonged violence and oppression.

The Israeli American Council in Arizona described the Saturday morning events as an act of "unspeakable horror."

"We condemn in one voice this despicable, murderous terrorist onslaught on innocent communities throughout the country and affirm Israel’s inalienable right to defend itself fully and completely," the organization said in a Facebook post. "We mourn the loss of those who were murdered and send our condolences to their families and loved ones. We are fervently praying for the health and safety of all affected."

Rios argued that Palestinian actions this weekend were not terrorist actions but rather "justified acts of resistance" and self-defense.

On Saturday afternoon, President Joe Biden pledged that U.S. support would not waver as he described Palestinian militants' surprise attack as an “appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists" and condemned the group’s attacks on civilians as “unconscionable.”

"This couldn't be further from the truth," Rios said in reference to Biden's words. "The resistance is both legally and morally justified in their response to the occupation."

Timur Karamanov, another leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also emphasized that showing support for Palestinians is not the same as supporting terrorism. Instead, he said the movement is meant to stand in "international solidarity" and advocate for the human rights of people who lack access to basic needs, particularly referring to the more than 2 million people in Gaza.

"Some people may think that we are here supporting acts of violence, and some people might dislike that, but the truth is, we are standing up for people who have been victims of violence previously inflicted upon them, and that prior violence they had suffered was much more severe and much harsher," Karamanov said.

Both Karamanov and Rios invited people to get involved and to stay informed about the conflict. According to them, the issue affects people living in Arizona in ways that range from policing to tax money being invested into financially supporting Israel.

"Resistance to apartheid and resisting oppression is not a crime. What we do know is that funding apartheid and genocide is definitely a crime," Rios said. "The need to create a mass movement against our government's support policy is more pressing than ever. If U.S. funding to Israel were to end tomorrow, the regime would fall by noon."

Attendees at the event were encouraged to stand up and speak through the megaphone. Many participants described the U.S. support of Israel as an act of imperialism, drawing parallels between the Palestinian experience and events during the U.S.-Mexico war and highlighting the separation of both nations by a wall as a consequence of Mexican land being taken by the U.S.

"This is stolen land too," said Zen Tahimik, an event speaker representing MECHA de ASU and Anakbayan Phoenix. "For us, as people who are conscious and aware of the problems of colonization. ... We have a responsibility to struggle alongside the Palestinian people."

Many of the organization leaders and activists who attended the event said they expected the movement to become a long-term effort to show increased support for Palestinians.

"We don't want to just build a revolutionary moment, we want to build a revolutionary movement," Tahimik said. "A revolutionary movement necessitates cultivating communities, building connections, we want to build something that is long term, and not just here today, and gone tomorrow."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3,000 Jewish community, allies gather in Scottsdale to support Israel