SEATTLE — We had a sit-down interview with rabbi Daniel Weiner of Temple De Hirsh Sinai Monday, marking one year since the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
Weiner went on the record, talking about the impact of the tragedy on Israel and Jewish communities around the globe. He reflected on the past year.
Now we have another voice, Jeff Siddiqui, community advocate and member of American Muslims of Puget Sound, to discuss the impact of war on Palestinians in Gaza from the eyes of our local Muslim community.
Siddiqui shared a different perspective and a vision for a peaceful future.
Joyce Taylor: Could you have imagined a year ago that we would be where we are in the Israel-Hamas war today?
Siddiqui: Not in my wildest nightmares? No.
Taylor: What do you know of what's happening on the ground there?
Siddiqui: Well, there's that forbidden G word that keeps coming up, that we keep refusing to recognize genocide, and it's the sad thing is, it's happening in other countries as well, but we're paying for it with our money and our weapons, and that makes me directly culpable.
Taylor: Expand on that idea.
Siddiqui: We're giving unlimited weapons and unlimited money to Israel, and they're using it in an unlimited fashion to kill Gaza cousins and flatten everything, including even in the West Bank and now in Lebanon and very soon in Iran. Now,
Taylor: Israel will argue, and has argued emphatically, that Hamas is using its own people as shields, in schools, in churches, in religious places, and that that's part of its strategy, that it's really responsible for the destruction of its own people.
Siddiqui: Well, that's a very convenient argument, but when you have a very limited space with 2.3 million people stuck in there, and this is not a regular army, these are resistant fighters who are spread all over, like in World War Two in France, there was the Maquis and the other resistance fighters. They weren't in barracks where the Germans could pick them off. They were in villages, living a normal life. These people are in villages, in cities, living a normal life. To say they are hiding behind civilians is only a very thinly veiled excuse to kill people at will.
Taylor: How do you imagine then Israel should fight this war against this type of enemy in an effort to defend itself?
Siddiqui: Well, by not creating a situation where this group becomes an enemy. When you most of the people in Gaza are not residents of Gaza. They've been kicked out of Israel twice over in two different times, and now they're in Gaza. Now they're being kicked out again. The best thing would be for Israel to come to a reconciliation. And yes, they can say they will never agree. Well, you know, France and Germany were at loggerheads with each other forever. Britain and German France were at loggerheads with each other. I don't believe in a forever enmity. I think if people, the stronger people, take the first step, the weaker people will reach out. But if you don't give them a chance and you keep crushing them, you're only making more enemies than you really need. And nobody needs enemies.
Taylor: When you talk about the loss in Gaza, the numbers really are staggering. The Gaza health ministry reports at least 41,000 killed. I'm sure you're aware. The Lancet journalist says the number could be 186,000 if you consider disease and the humanitarian crisis
Siddiqui: That was many months ago. I guarantee it's over 200,000 now.
Taylor: So over the past year, this is the kind of devastation that we've seen when you look forward. What does a future look like for the people of Gaza of the West Bank?
Siddiqui: This may be my weakness, but I'm a forever optimist. I believe, if we don't have hope, there really is no point in living. My hope is not just in Israel, not just in the Middle East, but everywhere, people will at some point be persuaded to come to their senses. And it is up to us, the people, who are enablers of many different sizes, not just the United States, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, all these countries to start that process, and it can come together. Where
Taylor: We're seeing an escalation now of tensions there. You've seen the bombardment between Israel and Iran with more than 200 missile strikes just in the past week. Do you think this could be a regional war potentially?
Siddiqui: Well, this is a problem. We keep talking about World War III and regional war United States is so overwhelmingly powerful that with Israel as the delivery source, we can just sit here in Texas or Louisiana, pressing buttons and watching a video screen and be blowing up targets, and pretty soon a country is flattened, like Iraq was, or like so many other countries have been. So it's not going to be a war suggests that there are two antagonists had battled with each other. This is not a war. This would be another slaughter. They'll destroy an ancient civilization that is probably one of the most advanced civilizations in the Middle East.
Taylor: The US has tried for months to get some kind of ceasefire agreement and hostage exchange or hostage deal, to have the hostages freed, to no avail. Diplomacy: Is it just failing?
Siddiqui: Well, the U.S. has never been an impartial broker. So the U.S. is saying, and look at the language they use. They want a hostage deal. They don't want an exchange of captives. Yes, there are a number of captives held by the Gazans, whether it's Hamas or Islamic Jihad or whatever, but there are thousands held by Israel. What is the point of all that? Why not just let these people go in?
Taylor: In the past, Israel has made these incredible swaps, thousands for one or two soldiers. That is not working this time around.
Siddiqui: It can't, because every time they release a few 100, they catch, they sweep in another few 100. The totality of the captives held by Israel is only increasing. It doesn't go down. So the numbers look great. And they say, 'Oh, they've got blood on their hands. And I'm with it. If somebody has blood on their hands, do not release them.' But apply that standard on both sides uniformly, I'll be I'll support it, but when you only apply it to one side and you pretend to be the victim, well, that's kind of difficult.
Taylor: Let me ask you this, do you believe that Israel has a right to defend itself?
Siddiqui: Yes, but this is not a defense. And a sovereign nation does not mean a nation that has kicked out the original inhabitants and made a land for itself as an exclusive entity. That is not the definition of a sovereign nation.
Taylor: Many Arab countries are calling for a two-state solution, but Israel has not been wanting to agree to that. Do you see that as the solution long term?
Siddiqui: I don't believe so. What is the solution then? Now you're going to laugh or cry or kick me out, but the solution, in my mind, is one state with Christians, Muslims and Jews living together. And no, it's not going to be a peaceful transition. It never is, but that first step has to be taken, and it can have protective fences around it that would protect not just one side, but both. We can't argue for safety and security for Israel and nothing for Palestinians once. State, and it will be the most prosperous state in the Middle East. I guarantee that
Taylor: Any final thoughts for us on this one year that we're marking since the attack?
Siddiqui: I just hope our politicians come to their senses and take the lead. I know it's dangerous. It's like going to the third rail, but stop this, this hostility, this war, this bombing. Stop it in Gaza, stop it in Lebanon. Stop it in Iran. Just stop Absolutely.