Israel-Lebanon war hits close to home

'We pray every day,' one man says



The recent bombings between Israel and Hezbollah militants gave rise to questions about which side is to blame and how the crisis might be resolved. One continent and an ocean away, members of the Jewish and Islamic faiths in the Conejo Valley and nearby areas had their own opinions concerning the conflict in the Middle East.

“So many people died for two soldiers,” said Imam Ali Muhammad Shakoor of the Islamic Center of Reseda. The death toll is more than 50 Israelis and 480 Lebanese, mostly civilians. “Was it worth it?” Shakoor asks.

Israel, many believe, overreacted to the kidnappings of their two soldiers.

Shakoor and Rabbi Ted Riter of Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks agree that the kidnappings tipped a delicate scale between negotiation and retaliation. The violence that erupted was a culmination of decades of builtup tension.

“I think Israel underreacted in the past,” Riter said. “This is not a war that’s only been going on for a couple of weeks. This is a response to violence and terrorism that’s been going on for years. When you’re attacked for years and years, at some point you have to either just give in, or you have to stand up.”

The heart of the matter is Israel’s birth in 1948. The Palestinians felt that strip of land, about the size of New Jersey, was rightfully theirs. They left it believing that someday they would get it back.

“In any country around the world, if another country occupied its land, would that country fight back? The answer is yes, it would,” said Akram Shami, a volunteer at the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles.

However, Riter and Rabbi Richard Spiegel of Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks cite the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as evidence that trading land for peace has not and will not work.

“It’s not a question of borders- it’s a question of Israel’s existence,” said Spiegel, who returned from Israel two weeks ago.

Until last Sunday’s airstrike on Qana, Israel and the U.S. were reluctant to agree on an immediate cease-fire. Riter believes that this is because Israel must win to demonstrate strength and compensate for a past of attempted and failed diplomacy. But continued hostility, Shakoor said, will only deepen the hatred the Islamic nations already have for Israel and will breed more terrorists.

Hezbollah’s use of innocent civilians as human shields makes the fighting particularly devastating. Its force of suicide bombers is another threat.

“Many Muslims in the Middle East do not have a good life nor a good education, and that is why they’re very emotional,” Shakoor explained. “If their family members are killed, the survivors will become suicide bombers. They don’t care about death, because they don’t have anything.”

The hatred may never stop. Riter notes that the children in the Islamic nations are taught to bear loathing towards Israel, and Shakoor feels that the fighting against Israel, particularly this incident, will be remembered by the next generation.

“We cannot stop it. The U.N. cannot stop it. The only thing we can do is pray,” Shakoor said. “We pray every day for the civilians, especially the women and children, who were killed by the bombings. We pray for the Israeli people also-that God give them guidance-they are good people. We pray, but nobody listens.”

Those of the Jewish faith also pray for an end to the violence and for recognition of Israel’s right to exist.

“It breaks the hearts of Jews around the world that so many

people, including Arabs, are dying,” Riter said. “We’re talking about it, we’re worried about it, and people are scared. Century after century we were persecuted, and we needed a place where we could be safe. This is our homeland. The Jewish people just want to live in peace, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.”

Chelsea Ma will be a senior this fall at Westlake High School. She’s completing a summer in- ternship for the Acorn Newspa- pers.


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