WEBVTT 00:01.800 --> 00:04.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Today, in Washington, D.C., tens of thousands of people marched near 00:04.033 --> 00:08.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the Capitol in support of Israel as its war with Hamas enters a second month. 00:08.866 --> 00:13.866 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the crowd in a live feed, and protesters were united, 00:15.766 --> 00:19.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% calling for hostages to be released and for rising antisemitism to be condemned. 00:21.466 --> 00:24.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But some Jewish Americans are torn over how the Israeli government is conducting the war 00:26.133 --> 00:28.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the number of Palestinians killed in the last five weeks. 00:28.133 --> 00:32.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% William Brangham got a sampling of some different perspectives. 00:32.533 --> 00:37.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% For many Jews in the U.S., this is a raw and emotionally difficult moment, one filled with 00:39.966 --> 00:43.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% great sadness and anger and anxiety. While there's near universal condemnation of Hamas' vicious 00:46.133 --> 00:51.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% attack on October 7, Israel's response since then, its full-scale attack on Gaza, on Hamas, 00:53.566 --> 00:58.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% and the horrible death it has caused, has exposed divisions within the American Jewish population. 01:00.500 --> 01:05.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% To get some sense of those, we spoke with a range of people with different perspectives. 01:06.400 --> 01:08.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Rabbi Rachel Timoner leads a reform congregation in Brooklyn, 01:08.633 --> 01:13.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% New York. Davian Gekman is a freshman at Cornell University. Rabbi Brant Rosen of Tzedek Chicago 01:16.333 --> 01:21.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% leads a progressive synagogue. David P. is an orthodox Jew and lawyer in Chicago who asked we 01:23.800 --> 01:27.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% not use his last name. Rabbi Ilana Garber advises conservative rabbis as part of the Rabbinical 01:29.700 --> 01:34.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Assembly. And Medea Benjamin is co-founder of the woman-led peace group known as CODEPINK. 01:35.666 --> 01:39.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% One common theme we heard was distress that the initial empathy 01:39.900 --> 01:44.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% shown to Israel after October 7 had dissipated and that there's 01:44.333 --> 01:49.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% not more consistent coverage and focus on the hostages Hamas took. 01:50.900 --> 01:52.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% RABBI ILANA GARBER, The Rabbinical Assembly: This was an unprovoked 01:52.933 --> 01:56.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% war between Israel and Hamas. Hamas attacked the Jewish people on October 7. 01:58.300 --> 02:02.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I feel incredibly sad, incredibly frustrated, incredibly angry. 02:04.733 --> 02:08.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RABBI BRANT ROSEN, Tzedek Chicago: I think what Hamas did on October 7 was a war crime, 02:08.533 --> 02:13.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in and of itself. And it was inexcusable. It should be condemned. It was horrific. 02:15.000 --> 02:18.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But I think Israel's response has been so disproportionate. 02:18.966 --> 02:23.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DAVID P., Attorney: My family has many victims of the Holocaust and my wife's 02:23.333 --> 02:28.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% family has many survivors. And this just had eerie tropes of pogroms and 02:30.333 --> 02:34.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the pre-Holocaust era. And what came out afterward was even more shocking, 02:35.933 --> 02:39.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% because we felt as if antisemitism was just out there in the open. 02:41.900 --> 02:45.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the same themes that came out 70 or so years ago were coming out again. 02:47.700 --> 02:51.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A more divisive issue is Israel's military response inside the 02:51.033 --> 02:55.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Gaza Strip. While some are calling for an immediate cease-fire, many Jewish 02:55.933 --> 03:00.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Americans argue that Israel has every right to aggressively counterattack an enemy like Hamas. 03:03.366 --> 03:05.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% RABBI RACHEL TIMONER, Congregation Beth Elohim: I think it is reasonable for Israel to fight 03:05.433 --> 03:08.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to bring home the hostages. And I think if people are calling for a cease-fire, 03:08.600 --> 03:13.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% they ought to be calling upon Hamas to return the hostages as part of what 03:15.600 --> 03:17.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that cease-fire would look like. And I do not hear that happening so much. 03:17.600 --> 03:21.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RABBI ILANA GARBER: I think a cease-fire was a great idea, and we had a cease-fire 03:21.533 --> 03:26.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% until October 7. And so I feel like it takes two to tango, and there was a cease-fire. 03:29.700 --> 03:33.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: While Israel has agreed to temporary pauses in its 03:33.200 --> 03:38.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% campaign to encourage civilians to leave certain areas, many American Jews argue, 03:40.100 --> 03:43.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that is not enough. They believe that the widespread destruction wrought by 03:43.600 --> 03:48.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% this counteroffensive, now estimated to have killed over 11,000 civilians, 03:50.933 --> 03:54.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, is immoral and unjustifiable. 03:55.700 --> 03:59.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Medea Benjamin is among those leading protests for a cease-fire. 03:59.133 --> 04:01.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MEDEA BENJAMIN, Co-Founder, CODEPINK: There should absolutely be a cease-fire. 04:01.933 --> 04:06.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There needs to be a cease-fire. We can't keep watching this horrific destruction in Gaza, 04:10.866 --> 04:15.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% where so many, not only people have been destroyed, but the entire infrastructure, 04:17.533 --> 04:21.366 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% people's homes. There's going to be nowhere for people to live anymore. 04:21.366 --> 04:25.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RABBI BRANT ROSEN: I really feel, as a member and a leader in the Jewish community, 04:25.233 --> 04:30.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that this is a moment of deep moral reckoning right now. And 04:30.033 --> 04:35.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think it's a test. It's a test for all of us. Over 10,000 people have been killed, 04:36.900 --> 04:39.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and those numbers are rising. Over 4,000 children have been killed, 04:39.533 --> 04:44.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and those numbers are rising. In such a circumstance, calling for a cease-fire would 04:46.933 --> 04:50.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% seem just the most moderate thing to call for. And the fact that those of us who have been calling 04:52.533 --> 04:55.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% for a cease-fire now are considered the ones who are -- quote, unquote -- "supporting terror" and 04:57.933 --> 05:02.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% making some kind of radical suggestion, I think, to me is just mind-boggling. 05:02.633 --> 05:05.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% DAVIAN GEKMAN, Student, Cornell University: Israel cannot consider a cease-fire. You cannot 05:05.233 --> 05:10.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% negotiate with terrorists. You cannot call -- you cannot have a cease-fire with Hamas still there. 05:12.066 --> 05:15.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think Israel has and must eliminate Hamas, but it must protect the lives of 05:17.233 --> 05:20.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% civilians. And I think that it needs to operate with more care at times. 05:20.933 --> 05:25.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DAVID P.: I'm not an expert on human rights, but I know that over 1,000 humans were killed 05:25.633 --> 05:30.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% without any provocation in one day. And when we look at the sort of circumstance, 05:32.233 --> 05:36.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% we have to say, how was this started, and has it been remedied yet? 05:36.000 --> 05:41.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The answer is, it was started by one side, and it has not yet been remedied. There 05:42.966 --> 05:46.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are over 200 hostages who have not been returned home. And that is an outrage. 05:48.500 --> 05:50.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RABBI BRANT ROSEN: I think there have been humanitarian violations on both 05:50.700 --> 05:55.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% sides. What Hamas did on October 7 was a war crime, the killing of civilians. 05:57.233 --> 06:00.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% What Israel is doing and what Israel has done to Gaza in the past, 06:00.700 --> 06:05.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% going in militarily and assaulting an imprisoned population, again, 06:05.633 --> 06:10.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% over two million people with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, with tons and tons and 06:13.200 --> 06:18.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% tons of bombs, and now going in on the ground, these are war crimes as well. 06:20.166 --> 06:24.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WOMAN: At Cornell University, the FBI now investigating after threatening statements 06:24.633 --> 06:28.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% were posted about Jewish people on an Internet discussion board. 06:28.833 --> 06:30.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The dramatic rise in antisemitic 06:30.933 --> 06:35.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% vitriol and attacks has also been an enormous worry to many American Jews. 06:37.933 --> 06:39.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RABBI RACHEL TIMONER: I definitely have seen an increase in antisemitism, 06:39.400 --> 06:42.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as I believe has every Jew in the world. I mean, 06:42.866 --> 06:47.866 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% it is rampant and shocking and stunning the amount of antisemitism that is coming at Jews. 06:50.733 --> 06:53.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% All of my members, they have seen graffiti 06:53.800 --> 06:57.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in their neighborhoods. We had - - our building was vandalized. 06:57.166 --> 07:00.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Davian Gekman saw this play out in recent days at Cornell. 07:00.900 --> 07:04.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DAVIAN GEKMAN: Here on campus, we have had a -- most recently, we had somebody on a 07:04.733 --> 07:09.733 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% discussion forum post that they wanted to bomb our kosher center, they wanted to kill Jews. 07:09.733 --> 07:14.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% There was a very large discussion amongst Jews on campus whether it's safe to even be on campus. 07:16.166 --> 07:19.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% A lot of students had -- went back home the moment that these 07:19.400 --> 07:22.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% attacks were revealed. They did not go to class. 07:22.700 --> 07:27.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% MEDEA BENJAMIN: I have not personally experienced antisemitism, but I have personally experienced 07:29.733 --> 07:32.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% tremendous divisions within my own family. Some members of my family who at one time were 07:35.300 --> 07:39.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% more sympathetic to the Palestinians are now not sympathetic at all, and other members of my family 07:41.633 --> 07:44.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% who were never sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians, and it was Israel can do no wrong. 07:46.333 --> 07:49.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So it's that kind of division that I have seen. 07:49.800 --> 07:53.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Some of those we spoke with still hope for a two-state solution, 07:53.933 --> 07:58.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where peace could be achieved for both Jews and Palestinians. 07:58.400 --> 08:03.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But, for now, that future seems as remote as it has in decades. 08:03.033 --> 08:07.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RABBI ILANA GARBER: Right now, I don't know what a resolution looks like. Every day, 08:07.633 --> 08:12.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% every hour, there's something new on the news, and I think, 08:12.400 --> 08:17.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% this is the worst it's going to be, or this is the most we will lose life or hope. 08:20.200 --> 08:25.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Nothing is logical anymore. Nothing is reasonable. I think it's going 08:27.200 --> 08:30.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to have to be that everyone wants to work together. That might be just an ideal dream, 08:35.900 --> 08:40.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% but if we want to live as neighbors, then we need to figure this out. 08:47.766 --> 08:52.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.