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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV - JEWISH-COMMUNITY-SECURITY-CONCERNS
HEADLINE: Division on US Campuses Over Gaza Escalation; Jewish Communities Ramp Up Security
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 10/13/2023 at 8:55 am
BYLINE: Natasha Mozgovaya
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
VIDEOGRAPHER: Natasha Mozgovaya, WH feed.
VIDEO EDITOR:
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Scott Stearns
SCRIPT EDITORS: Mia Bush, Steve Hirsch, Pete Cobus
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:57
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES: Current script WordCount minus parenthetical templating text/metadata = 645 words))
((INTRO)) [[Hamas calls for solidarity events worldwide raises safety concerns for Jews worldwide. From Washington state, Natasha Mozgovaya is on a U.S. campus where tensions were visible.]]
“Intifada intifada!”
[[Radio intro: Bissan Barghouti, with Samidoun Seattle, a Palestinian prisoners solidarity network, was one of Thursday’s rally organizers on the University of Washington campus.]]
((Bissan Barghouti, Samidoun Seattle))
“They fear that we’ll be able to liberate ourselves with our own two hands!”
((NARRATOR))
Calls by Hamas for diaspora Palestinians to show solidarity with their fight raised alarm in Jewish communities worldwide.
Some Jewish activists voiced concerns about a rally in Seattle in support of Palestinians’ right to resistance. The event flyer showed a parachute glider — one of the means by which Hamas crossed into Israel from Gaza.
((NATS female Jewish student, crying))
“They want our people dead. They want us killed.”
((Female student to VOA))
“It’s scary, I don’t feel safe. I mean, you can listen to what they are saying.”
[[Radio intro: Jewish community member David Sullivan]]
((David Sullivan, Jewish community member)
“I hear people's pain, right. I really, really do. But a lot of people here are here for their Instagram stories. And there's people's lives over there at stake.”
((NARRATOR))
A few Jewish activists tried to challenge rally participants.
((Ari Hoffman, Local Synagogue President)) ((shouting at pro-Palestinian protesters))
“Would you condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization?”
((NATS woman))
“No.”
((laughter))
((NARRATOR))
Ari Hoffman, president of Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath, a local Orthodox synagogue, told VOA he decided “to see how bad is the situation for the American Jews.”
((Ari Hoffman, local Synagogue President))
“I look around at what's going on here and I think about my relatives that didn't survive Nazi Germany. What time did they not realize it was time to get out? And I'm looking around at an American university where you literally have people who are wearing the colors of terrorists who cut the heads off babies, burned them, who went into houses and burned people alive.”
((NARRATOR))
Some of the students who participated in the rally covered their faces with masks. Others asked not to share their names.
((Male student))
“We support the Palestinian resistance, and we are always with them and came to show our support — this is our role in helping them free themselves.”
((NARRATOR))
Barghouti, one of the rally organizers, told VOA how she sees the Hamas attacks.
((Bissan Barghouti, Samidoun Seattle))
“Last week was the first time that Gazans have actually been able to see the rest of their Palestinian lands. They broke out of prison that has been imposed on them by a 16-year-long air, sea and land blockade by the Israeli military forces.”
((NARRATOR))
She added the rally is not about Hamas, but Palestinians’ fight against years of oppression.
((Bissan Barghouti, Samidoun Seattle))
“I am not here to reassure any Zionists or Israelis who believe in the erasure and settler colonization of Palestinians on Palestinian lands.”
((NARRATOR))
Hoffman says he takes the rally speakers’ rhetoric seriously.
((Ari Hoffman, local Synagogue President))
“Our synagogue has doubled security, along with most of the other synagogues in the country, not just here in Washington. And everybody knows that this is different because we see that there are people here who are agreeing with the terrorists and openly out there wearing their colors and agreeing with them.”
((NARRATOR))
During a townhall at the University of Washington, President Ana Mari Cauce held a minute of silence Thursday for the victims of the Hamas attack.
((Ana Mari Cauce, University of Washington President))
“We can have debates about, you know, the situation in Palestine for the last 75 years. But there is no question that these Hamas attacks on civilians were absolutely reprehensible. If you watched on TV, the nature of the attacks absolutely make your blood curdle and no one should be celebrating these atrocities.”
((NARRATOR))
Cauce stressed that the university focuses on healing for all students traumatized by the recent escalation of violence.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden met at the White House leaders of prominent U.S. Jewish groups, acknowledging their safety concerns.
((Joe Biden, US President))
“You worry about kids being targeted at school, going about their daily lives, hurt by the downplaying of Hamas' atrocities and blaming Israel. This is unconscionable.”
On Wednesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration is working closely with state and local authorities to identify and thwart potential threats.
((Natasha Mozgovaya, VOA News, Seattle, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
BylineNatasha Mozgovaya
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
