CHICAGO (WLS) — Tuesday marks two years since the Israel-Hamas war began, bringing devastation and suffering across the Middle East.
This war started after Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 Israelis.
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Thousands of people have been killed and injured in the Gaza Strip as Israeli hostages are still being held in Gaza.
There is hope from both parties that the ceasefire discussions might mark the start of a lasting peace. This cautious optimism remains despite the deep wounds inflicted, two years after the October 7th attack and the subsequent conflict between Israel and Hamas.
For millions of people around the world, the suffering surrounding October 7th remains fresh.
“Today signifies a day filled with pain. We, Israelis, are still hurting. Whether in Israel or globally within Jewish communities, the pain persists. Although it’s been two years since the dreadful attack on October 7, it still feels like October 7, 2023, for us in Israel,” said Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Elad Strohmayer.
Two years back, Hamas carried out a surprise attack that resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 250, with 48 still held in Gaza, as reported by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile, Strohmayer criticized protests planned around Chicago for Tuesday, including one intended at the Israeli Consulate.
“On this day of our attack, holding demonstrations that blame Israel, the victim, for the events is gaslighting, cruel, and outrageous. They’re attempting to alter the narrative and rewrite history, and we won’t allow it,” Strohmayer emphasized.
Survivors of that attack helped break ground on a planned memorial garden outside a Glencoe synagogue on Tuesday.
Mey Shwisha survived. Her two friends, pictured on the podium, did not.
“I went to dance, and then I started to run. Since this moment, I haven’t stopped running,” Shwisha said.
Hersch Goldberg-Polin was held by Hamas before his body was recovered in a tunnel.
His aunt, Abby Polin, from the Chicago area, remembered the 23-year-old at Tuesday’s event.
“While you are here to start work on a memorial, what you’re truly creating is a promise; a vow to remember every name, every face, every silenced voice,” she stated.
As Israelis and many within the Jewish community demand the return of Israeli hostages, Palestinians highlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to continued Israeli strikes on Gaza City.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 67,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and almost 2 million people have been displaced. The United Nations Children’s Fund estimated that 14,000 children in Gaza are acutely malnourished.
The U.S. Palestinian Community Network reflected on the pain felt by people in Gaza.
“It is a reminder for us that we have a long way to go continue to fight for justice and for the liberation for our people,” said USPCN-Chicago Co-chair Husam Marajda.
And at the Israeli consulate in downtown Chicago, both sides met in protest.
The group included Max Long, who was one of two DePaul students attacked on campus in November and is a reservist for the Israel Defense Forces.
“This is much harder than being a reservist. To come out here and to hold up these signs, time and time again, to be hearing the hate being spewed from the other side,” Long said.
But as Palestinian families are starved and killed amid the war, their supporters here an ocean away are crying out for an end to the conflict.
“Over two years of business as usual has left us where we are now!” one demonstrator said.
“Someone posed a question. What are you going to do while Gaza is going through a genocide?” said demonstrator Billy Gregory. And my answer was to be as loud as I could.”
“It shows solidarity with the Palestinian people, to give them hope that there is people fighting for them,” said demonstrator Dylan Littlejohn.
And though many on both sides hope for peace, it is how they arrive at that notion that the chasm still exists.
“We want it to be over, and it can over right now. If Hamas agrees to lay down its arms and also to release all the hostages, it can over in a heartbeat,” Strohmayer said.
“When we have true self-determination of our own country and our land, our own people. Then that’s when we can talk about peace. But until, we are still under occupation,” Marajda said.
The Jewish United Fund issued a statement, saying, “Today, Chicago’s Jewish community mourns and remembers the brutal terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. On that day more than 1200 people were murdered and 250 taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas. To this day, 48 hostages remain in captivity after 730 agonizing days. We demand their immediate and safe return to their families, as we yearn for real, enduring peace.”
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