Jews in the Charlotte area marked the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others abducted, by organizing events to mourn those who died and support the hostages.
“We pray that peace will come,” said Judy Schindler , rabbi emerita of Temple Beth El in Charlotte. “I certainly pray that Israelis can live in peace, and Palestinians can live in peace, and we can build a better Middle East together.”
Not long after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which Schindler previously compared to the Sept. 11 attack, Israel began a counterattack in Gaza, and the Israeli military has now killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and injured tens of thousands more.
The war has spilled over into Lebanon, where hundreds have also been killed and many evacuated as Israel battles Hezbollah militants .
Antisemitic incidents have spiked in the United States since the Oct. 7 attack. The Anti-Defamation League reported over 10,000 antisemitic incidents nationally between October 2023 and September 2024. That marked a 200% increase from the 3,325 incidents in the same period a year before.