SOCIETY

'9/11 of the Israelis': Bay Area Jewish community reacts to Hamas attacks, kidnappings

ByLeslie Brinkley KGO logo

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

'9/11 of the Israelis': Bay Area Jewish community reacts to attacksBay Area Jewish synagogues, community groups and Israelis are banding together in the face of the attacks in Israel to fundraise and build support.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area Jewish synagogues, community groups and Israelis are banding together in the face of the attacks in Israel to fundraise and build support. Many of them have direct ties to friends and family in Israel who have been killed, taken hostage or are injured.

"Israel is a small country. Everyone knows someone." according to Rabbi Dovber Berkowitz with the Chabad of Contra Costa. They are knitting together support in the Bay Area Jewish community in the face of what he called horrific attacks.

Israeli American Yana Agranovsky Berger said, "I'm getting news that people that I know personally are no longer with us. They were brutally murdered, brutally slaughtered. And the news just keeps coming. This is the 911 of the Israelis. This is the 911 of the Israelis. I was raised and grew up in Ashkelon. The city that is right now under tremendous attack of missiles. And my parents right now and my mother in law are in the shelters."

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Another Israeli American Siena Naaman Cohen said, "We are not there, we are here. And we feel all the sadness and all the scariness - our friends and our family."

Siena was supposed to fly to Israel with her daughters on Sunday but she said her airlines canceled their flight from SFO to Tel Aviv - and she knows people are stranded there. Israelis had their phones and all their electronics shut off in celebration of the Jewish holiday when the attack commenced.

Rabbi Berkowitz said, "Locally people are concerned, people are worried about security. This is locally - this isn't in Israel. People feel like there is an anti-Semitic undertone. Of course we're in touch with law enforcement, we're in touch with security companies for the coming couple of weeks."

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Siena Naaman Cohen said, "In the past I used to say I'm proud, I'm Israeli - now I'm kind of scared to say."

Fundraisers are underway. Support networks are growing exponentially as vigils and rallies get planned.

A walk of support for Israel is set for Tuesday outside the Walnut Creek library starting at 5 p.m. The march will continue onto Broadway and Main Street. Organizers are asking people to wear white and carry Israeli and American flags in solidarity against terrorism.