Starvation in Gaza divides many Jewish Americans
Frustrated by the bloodshed, pressure is mounting on the United States and the international community to take better control of chaotic food distribution sites.
'We're seeing not only divisiveness, but hatred between us, and that's not a good thing for the future,' said Rabbi Erez Sherman of Sinai Temple, a Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles. 'So how do we not solve it? How do we work on that?'
But support for Israel remains ironclad among many American Jewish groups and rabbis, who argue that Hamas is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching innocent civilians.
'Israel has facilitated an extraordinary amount of aid to Palestinians in Gaza, in wartime, and that's really an unprecedented situation,' said Belle Etra Yoeli, spokesperson for the American Jewish Committee, which recently ran a full-page ad in The New York Times with the image of an Israeli hostage who remains in Hamas custody.
'The Palestinian civilians who have been caught in the crossfire throughout this entire war because of Hamas' actions should not be suffering,' she added. 'Israel doesn't want that.'
Nearly 1,400 people have been killed and more than 4,000 have been injured seeking food in Gaza, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last week.
At least 859 people have been killed near sites operated by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, a controversial American- and Israeli-backed organization, the United Nations said.
The foundation's executive director, Johnnie Moore, said Hamas is largely responsible for the killings and dismissed news reports about people dying by Israeli gunfire.
'We have not seen the Israeli military do anything that remotely aligns with some of these accusations,' he said.
'It is a quite evident fact that Hamas has killed intentionally probably hundreds of people in proximity not to just our sites, to U.N. distribution sites, as a means of sort of misattributing those attacks either to the IDF or to being in proximity to GHF,' he added, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
To address escalating concerns over the humanitarian crisis, synagogues across Jewish movements in the United States have organized roundtables with the executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
At an event with GHF hosted last month by Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, reactions were mixed, according to Sherman, the rabbi, who led the discussion.
Some people were shocked that an organization that has come under so much criticism was allowed to present its case. Others appreciated hearing directly from people on the ground.
'How do you block evil from your midst while also feeding the hungry and supporting the orphan and widow?' Sherman said after the roundtable, referring to Psalm 146. 'To me, it's an impossible task, and I give credit to somebody who is at least trying to do that.'
Polling suggests Jewish Americans are divided over Netanyahu's handling of the war. According to a Pew Research Center report, 53% of Jewish Americans say they lack confidence in his leadership, while 45% say they have confidence. About 6 million Jews live in the United States, or 2% of the population, according to the Pew Research Center.
The poll was conducted in April, before GHF began its operations in Gaza.
Supporters of Netanyahu's government, including several Jewish American organizations, have said Hamas is spreading misleading information about who is to blame for ongoing violence at aid sites, a claim Hamas has repeatedly denied. They have also criticized detractors for losing focus on the remaining Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas.
'All of this can just be stopped anytime if Hamas puts down its weapons,' said Orthodox Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization that supports Netanyahu's government.
An emerging concern echoed by several organizations and rabbis is that Netanyahu's position is not creating a safer Israel or global environment for Jewish people. Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of nonprofit advocacy organization J Street, said the ongoing violence is exposing Israelis and Palestinians to unnecessary bloodshed.
J Street, which supports a two-state solution, opposed Netanyahu years before the war.
'If you say to people you must be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel, then we're condemning ourselves and our kids to a never-ending conflict,' Ben-Ami said Monday.
But according to Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari of Kol Tzedek, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Philadelphia, the war is creating an 'existential rupture' that is pitting friends and family members against one another.
'It's catastrophic,' he said. 'We're wrestling with the very question 'Do we belong to each other?''
Fornari was among more than 40 people arrested outside Trump Tower in New York City earlier this month as they shouted for the United States to stop arming Israel and feed Gaza. He was arrested for investigation of blocking traffic and obstruction, his third arrest since the war started on Oct. 7, 2023, he said.
Some posters and signs displayed outside Trump Tower referred to an ancient maxim about the moral obligation to speak out against injustice, Fornari said.
'It says anyone who has the power to speak out and chooses not to do so is responsible for it,' he said.
Handcuffed near Fornari was Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the CEO of T'ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization. Jacobs said she supported Israel's military response to Hamas' terrorist attack in 2023, which killed 1,200 people and led to the taking of 250 hostages. The strike, the worst one-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust, shocked the world.
Since then, more than 61,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, and much of the territory has been destroyed.
Jacobs began questioning Netanyahu's strategy as more and more civilians in Gaza were killed, she said. In July, she denounced American Jewish leaders who had not spoken out against the humanitarian crisis unfolding thousands of miles away.
'Privately, Jewish lay leaders are anguished over Gaza. Publicly, they fear being labeled antisemitic,' she wrote in an opinion column in The Forward, a Jewish American newspaper.
Jacobs has been called antisemitic by other Jewish people who support Netanyahu and shunned by legacy Jewish organizations, she said. Some of it, she said, comes from a legitimate fear of prejudice.
In May, two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and a Colorado pro-Israeli hostages group was attacked with two Molotov cocktails in June. There have also been reports of anti-Jewish slurs and signs at college campuses and pro-Palestinian protests across the country.
The cultural fallout has been playing out in living rooms and across kitchen tables. Sonya Meyerson-Knox, a spokesperson for the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, which has opposed the war since 2023, said a member was uninvited to Shabbat family dinners because of differing opinions about the war.
The group was suspended from several campuses, including Columbia University's, over allegations it intimidated Jewish students and made them feel unsafe during pro-Palestinian protests last year. Jewish Voice for Peace maintains that its views are not antisemitic.
'It is not unique in Jewish history for Jews to be in fierce disagreement with each other,' she said. 'What is unique is that there seems to be an effort to weaponize one-half of our community against the other.'
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Newsweek
34 minutes ago
- Newsweek
How Number of Journalists Killed in Gaza War Compares to WW2, Vietnam, Iraq
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. This is the "deadliest period for journalists" in decades, a press advocacy group has said, after six journalists were killed in an Israeli attack on northern Gaza on Sunday. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a U.S.-based nonprofit, made its assessment based on figures from its database, which includes publicly available information dating back to 1992. Anas al-Sharif, a journalist for Al Jazeera, was killed along with another correspondent, Mohammed Qraiqea, and photographers Ibrahim Al Thaher and Mohamed Nofal in a drone attack on a journalists' tent outside the main gate of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday, Al Jazeera said in a statement. A freelance cameraman, identified as Momen Aliwa, and a freelance journalist, Mohammed al-Khalidi, were also killed, the network said. The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, saying that he was head of a Hamas terrorist cell and was involved in rocket attacks on Israel. "A press badge isn't a shield for terrorism," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Filipino activists light candles as they hold photos of Palestinian journalists who were killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in Gaza, during a protest in Quezon City, Philippines, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. Filipino activists light candles as they hold photos of Palestinian journalists who were killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in Gaza, during a protest in Quezon City, Philippines, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. AP Photo/Aaron Favila An Arabic-language spokesperson for the IDF had last month posted an image appearing to show al-Sharif alongside Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader killed by Israel in southern Gaza last October. The IDF had previously accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of working with Hamas. A Hamas official said of al-Sharif that they had "no knowledge of his affiliation with the movement or its military apparatus." Al-Sharif himself had denied he was a Hamas member shortly before his death. "The pattern of labeling journalists as terrorists before killing them, effectively granting themselves the authority to extinguish these journalists, has become a specialty of the Israel Defense Forces," Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, advocacy and communications director for the CPJ, told Newsweek. Israel has repeatedly denied targeting journalists and has said it "takes all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians including journalists." "Remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks," the IDF said. It is difficult to accurately determine how many journalists are killed in a conflict, even in recent years. Those tallying often make a distinction between civilian and military journalists, as well as media representatives who are killed in the line of duty versus those who are killed away from the front lines. Others do not include those working for state-controlled outlets such as the Russian TASS news agency or the Hamas-operated Al Aqsa TV. Figures for the number of journalists killed in conflict zones before the early 1990s are even harder to verify. The CPJ has publicly available information stretching back to 1992. The Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said it had compiled accurate lists of journalist deaths since roughly two years prior. Before this, counts of media representatives killed likely omitted local or less high-profile journalists not working for mainstream outlets, Anthony Bellanger, the IFJ's general secretary, told Newsweek. How Many Journalists Have Been Killed in Gaza? At least 192 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and in Lebanon since October 2023, the CPJ said in a press release updated on August 12 this year. The organization distinguishes between "journalists" (editorial personnel) and "media support workers" (such as drivers, fixers, translators, distribution staff). Its says its database does not include deaths in which "journalists are clearly not killed for their journalism." Nor does it include media support workers unless their death is confirmed as work-related. It is the deadliest period for journalists since its records began in 1992, the CPJ said. It said it is investigating another 130 potential cases of journalists being killed, arrested or injured, as well as media offices and homes being damaged. Of the 192 journalists killed in these areas in close to two years of fighting, 184 were Palestinian, according to the CPJ. Two were Israeli and six were Lebanese journalists. Israel does not allow international media to enter Gaza, with the exception of highly controlled trips stewarded by the IDF. "The abysmal situation faced by journalists in Gaza is an aberration in the field of conflict reporting," Guillén said. Nearly half of journalists killed in Gaza in 2024 were killed by drones, Guillén said, describing this as "a new and growing trend in conflict reporting." Roughly 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive nearly two years ago, press freedom groups say. Roughly 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive nearly two years ago, press freedom groups say. Newsweek Illustration/Canva/Getty/AP Newsroom Other groups broadly agreed with the CPJ's figures. "Nearly 200 journalists have been killed" in this phase of hostilities from late 2023, according to International News Safety Institute. This is "an unprecedented toll in modern conflict reporting," the NGO said in a statement. The IFJ and the Paris-headquartered Reporters sans frontières (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, both told Newsweek they had similar figures. "Unlike other conflicts in the past, where journalists were respected and often even welcomed to document the conflict because there were few or no means of communication, today in Gaza, journalists are very often targeted by the Israeli army," Bellanger of the IFJ said. Of the approximately 200 media operatives killed in Gaza in 22 months of war, around 50 have been deliberately targeted, while many others were killed in strikes impacting civilians in the strip, rather than while reporting, Thibaut Bruttin, RSF's director general, told Newsweek. The Israeli military has said it "has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists." Protection for journalists is enshrined in international law. As civilians, intentionally targeting members of the press is a war crime. Here, Newsweek uses available data from those monitoring groups to compare the death toll in Gaza to previous conflicts. Iraq A U.S.-led coalition of forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, and U.S. combat operations officially ended in 2010. Most Western troops had pulled out of the country by the end of 2011. Across these years, 228 journalists were killed in Iraq, according to the CPJ. Between 100 and 150 journalists were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2006, Bellanger of the IFJ told Newsweek. The RSF's numbers put the number of journalists killed while reporting in Iraq at 242, making it the "the bloodiest war for journalists." "It was somewhat different, in the sense that journalists were really heavily targeted by the military forces," Bruttin said. This included terrorist groups that carried out strikes followed by attacks on the media and first responders arriving at the scene. In February 2007, RSF said it was "deeply concerned by repeated violations of journalists' rights in Iraq." At the time, at least 150 journalists and media workers had been killed in the country, it said. Afghanistan There are varying numbers on how many journalists were killed in Afghanistan. Following 9/11, the U.S. led efforts to remove the Taliban from power and set up a new government in Kabul, setting the stage for two decades of involvement in the country before the Taliban took back control in 2021. According to the CPJ, 76 international and local journalists and media workers were killed in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021. In 2018 alone, 16 journalists and two media workers were killed in the country, according to these figures. Other counts come in slightly higher. Between 2010 and 2021, 87 Afghan journalists were killed, according to the IFJ. At least six journalists were killed between the Taliban coming to power in Kabul in August 2021 and November of that year, according to the IFJ. Vietnam The communist regime in North Vietnam—backed by the Soviet Union and China—fought the government in South Vietnam, supported by the U.S., from 1955. The U.S. become directly militarily involved in 1965, until the capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese forces in 1975. RSF research indicates around 60 journalists were killed during the Vietnam War, Bruttin said. One count referenced by the Associated Press in 2006 put the total number of journalists killed or presumed dead during the war at 71. Between 70 and 80 journalists were killed in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975, Bellanger said. Korea The Korean War began in 1950, when North Korean forces invaded South Korea in an attempt to unify the peninsula under communist rule. The North Korean forces were backed by the Soviet Union and later China. South Korea was supported primarily by the U.S. under the auspices of the United Nations. The Korean War lasted three years and was brought to a close with the signing of an armistice agreement in 1953. Approximately ten journalists died, Bellanger said. World War II It is "extremely difficult" to produce a casualty count for journalists during World War II, Bruttin said. Far predating meticulous records, the war sprawled across the civilian populations of many nations. Due to the unavailability of equivalent information, comparing these figures to more recent conflicts such as the war in Gaza is close to impossible. A total of 69 reporters covering the Allied campaign died during World War II, according to a count compiled by Ray Moseley, a former war correspondent. This number includes journalists who died in accidents or from disease. Moseley said that it is not clear how many journalists from the Soviet Union were killed, but that 16 reporters from the state-controlled Red Star newspaper died between mid-1941 and the spring of 1944. The IFJ estimates that between 60 and 80 journalists were killed between 1939 and 1945, Bellanger said. Ukraine A total of 29 journalists and media workers have been killed in Ukraine since 2014, when Moscow seized control of the Crimean peninsula to the south of the mainland and backed separatists in the country's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk region, according to the CPJ. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Nineteen journalists and media workers have been killed since then, CPJ figures show. The RSF estimates that 15 journalists have been killed in the conflict, Bruttin said. Ukrainian authorities have said 57 journalists have been killed in the country, but the RSF does not include those working for the military or communications operatives into its tally, Bruttin said. Unlike Israel in Gaza, Bruttin said, "other countries have been able to open up to the press — [to] maintain a sense of military censorship to prevent jeopardising their own military operation." "But it has not resulted in the killing of as many journalists as might have been expected or feared," he added. At the same time, Bruttin said, "we're globally seeing an increase in safety for journalists." This is driven by newsrooms putting their teams through more training on operating in conflict zones and equipping them properly, Bruttin said, but also by a feeling among military commanders and politicians that the media should be shielded. From roughly 1985, approximately 100 journalists were killed while carrying out their duties each year, Bruttin said. There was a "sharp decline" from 2018, down to just over half of this number by 2024, he added. "We are in an era where we have more military means to have precision strikes," the RSF chief said. "We have more safety within the newsrooms and more culture of safety," he added. For the last seven years, most of the journalists who have died were killed in non-conflict countries, like Mexico, Bruttin said. "Journalists were collateral victims of war, especially in World War Two and in the Vietnam War as well," Bruttin said. "Now they are targets. They are targeted and hit because they're journalists."
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Africa's youngest state dismisses deal to host Palestinians from war-torn Gaza
South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly denied claims that it is engaged in talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied allegations of involvement in discussions to resettle Palestinians from Gaza. South Sudan emphasized its priorities are addressing internal challenges, stating these claims were unfounded. Other African nations, such as Somalia, have also previously rejected similar proposals concerning displaced Palestinians. The statement comes in response to an Associated Press report on citing six unnamed sources who alleged that discussions were underway between Juba and Tel Aviv to relocate some Palestinians to the East African nation. South Sudanese officials dismissed the claims as unfounded, stressing that no such negotiations had taken place and reaffirming the country's current priorities lie in addressing its own internal humanitarian and development challenges. In a statement sighted by Reuters, South Sudan's foreign affairs ministry described the claims as baseless and ' do not reflect the official position or policy of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan," The ministry's clarification seeks to put to rest mounting speculation over the reported arrangement, which had quickly drawn international attention due to the highly sensitive nature of the Israel–Palestine conflict and South Sudan's delicate diplomatic posture. African nations take a firm stance on hosting Palestinian refugees This marks the second time an African nation has rejected proposals to host displaced Palestinians from Gaza. In March, both Somalia and its breakaway region of Somaliland denied receiving any such proposal from the United States or Israel, with Mogadishu stating it categorically opposed the idea. The refusal by African states such as South Sudan, Somalia, and Somaliland to host displaced Palestinians from Gaza is rooted in a mix of political, security, and geopolitical considerations, all of which intersect with historical sensitivities about sovereignty and foreign influence. Gaza has become almost uninhabitable due to a combination of prolonged conflict, blockade, and the current war's unprecedented destruction. Years of restrictions on movement and goods imposed primarily by Israel and Egypt, have crippled Gaza's economy, infrastructure, and health systems. Water and electricity are scarce, and large parts of the territory lie in ruins after sustained Israeli military operations. These conditions have fueled occasional proposals to relocate some displaced Palestinians abroad. The AP report published in March disclosed that the United States and Israel engaged officials from several East African governments to discuss the possibility of using their territories as destinations for Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump's proposed postwar plan. The outreach to Sudan, Somalia, and the breakaway region of Somaliland highlighted Washington and Tel Aviv's determination to advance a proposal that has drawn widespread condemnation and raised serious legal and moral concerns. Given that all three locations face poverty and, in some cases, ongoing violence, the plan also casts doubt on Trump's stated aim of resettling Gaza's Palestinians in what he described as a 'beautiful area.'
Epoch Times
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Albanese Cautions Against Hamas ‘Propaganda' After Alleged Praise From the Terror Group
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