Attack on Israel ‘a complete act of terrorism,’ says Jewish activist

The Israeli government has officially declared war in a retaliation effort against the Palestinian militant movement Hamas for its devastating surprise attack from the Gaza Strip that left hundreds dead and thousands injured yesterday.

According to the Associated Press, at least 600 people have been killed in Israel – a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades – and more than 300 have been killed in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes pound the territory.

Dozens of civilians and soldiers from Israel were seized by Hamas fighters and taken back to Gaza. Many of the captives included women, children, and the elderly.

Jeff Arbus, a Jewish man in Sault Ste. Marie who has served in numerous leadership roles within the local Beth Jacob Synagogue, calls the attack a blatant act of terrorism.

“This is a terrorist organization whose key aim is to get rid of Israel,” he told SooToday. “That’s stated clearly in their charter and in all their documents. What we saw yesterday was a complete act of terrorism – there’s no other way to describe it.”

“Any attempt to justify the actions of this terrorist organization is in fact supporting terrorism. To me, it’s not complex. What happened yesterday is very clear-cut.”

While Arbus and his wife don’t have immediate family living in Israel, they work with people who do.

“Someone I work with provincially has a cousin who was murdered,” he says. “I know there are people in the Sault with connections to Israelis by family or by business or whatever it may be. There’s a huge concern because civilians are being targeted.”

Sault Ste. Marie has had a Jewish community for 140 years. For more than half that time, Congregation Beth Jacob has remained the first and only synagogue in the twin Saults.

Earlier this year, Arbus led an antisemitism training course for some of the city’s top officials, including Mayor Matthew Shoemaker, chief administrative officer Malcolm White, and Police Chief Hugh Stevenson.

He has reached out to those same officials in the last day and a half to ensure the Sault’s Jewish community – which is estimated to only be in the double digits – remains protected in troubling times like this.

“The trend has been that when incidents like this occur, there is a global spike in antisemitic incidents,” he says. “We have been in touch with the mayor’s office and with the local police chief who have been very supportive. We’re believing that there is no immediate threat to the local Jewish community, but we’re certainly being watchful. You lose sleep over stuff like that.”

While he didn’t want to dive too deep into the complexities of the politics overseas, Arbus says he would be in favour of a two-state solution and believes most of the Jewish community would support that as well.

“If people want to support Palestinian liberation and a Palestinian state – I’ll join them,” he says. “But if they want to somehow excuse acts of terrorism as part of that struggle, they don’t get my support at all.”

“What happened yesterday is markedly different than what we’ve seen in the past, both in terms of its scope and the brutality of what happened. They killed civilians, posted videos parading over dead bodies, and desecrated those bodies.”

“Regardless of how people may feel about Palestine or Palestinian liberation, yesterday was a blatant act of horrific terrorism.”

Politicians across the country, including Shoemaker, Premier Doug Ford, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took to social media to condemn Hamas’ attacks.

Arbus believes Canada’s role in the conflict has some of its own complexities involved, but he’s hopeful the country will help provide some much-needed relief and advocacy for Israel.

“I think Canada’s efforts at the United Nations could be stepped up towards a two-state solution,” he admits. “Hamas gets its arms from Iran, and Canada is in the middle of a deal with Iran regarding nuclear power. At some point, the rubber hits the road and you’ve got to make a decision.”

“There’s work for Canada to do, but I think Canada has shown in the past their leadership in the Middle East. I hope they step up and that this all passes soon. We have to be hopeful, and we have to stand up to terrorism.”