On October 7, the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas (an acronym for the Arabic name of “Islamic Resistance Movement”) launched a brutal invasion of Israel. Attacking kibbutzim and other Israeli settlements, Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people, wounding thousands, and taking around 150 Jewish hostages. A day later, Israel attacked the Palestinian territory of Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas. At the time of this writing, an estimate of 10,000 to 18,000 Palestinians have died, most of whom are reported as civilian deaths; medical care is at the brink of collapse, and food insecurity is rampant.
This conflict seems remote and not a natural fit for this podcast. Undeniably, however, it has entered our communities, classrooms, SUNY campuses, and other colleges nearby. Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Jewish students report experiencing hate speech, intimidation, harassment, and even assault. Both antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise, tempers are flaring, biases spreading, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to have a dialogue across differences.
SUNY Schenectady County Community College is standing firmly against antisemitism, Islamophobia, and discrimination of any form, and for this episode, cohosts Alexandre Lumbala and Dr. Babette Faehmel took this statement to heart. We invited several guests who are all familiar with the region, to dialogue with us and each other and we are incredibly grateful for all of those who agreed, or who helped us find partners for this conversation.
Please join us for a difficult and painful, albeit sincere dialogue about historic hurts and present anguish – all in search of a just, dignified way forward. Our guests are Paula Weiss - co-founder and leader of the Children at the Well interfaith youth storytelling program and member of the Woodstock Jewish Congregation; Dr. Ahmad Abu-Hakmeh – a Muslim Palestinian American and member of the Greater Albany Muslim Community; Rabbi Matthew Cutler of the Congregation Gates of Heaven; and Cooper Patschureck – a student in SUNY Schenectady’s Communication Concentration and aspiring journalist.
We usually remove pauses from our recordings. For this episode, however, we decided to leave them in. We pause to listen and to process. In a conversation about a topic of this gravity, pauses are necessary and meaningful.
Please Note: This episode includes content that listeners might find distressing. If you or anyone around you experiences emotional distress while listening, please pause or stop and take care of yourself and your loved ones first. If you are a listener in the US, you can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for support.
Want to find out more or get involved?
The following organizations (which were mentioned in the podcast) consist of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis working together for a new future:
· Standing Together, https://www.standing-together.org/en
· Parents Circle https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/pcff-home-page-en/
· Women Wage Peace https://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/en/
· Peace Now https://peacenow.org.il/en/
· Givat Haviva https://www.givathaviva.org/
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.