The prospect of a temporary ceasefire in war-torn Gaza is being greeted with mixed feelings by some Islanders.
Sara Kishawi, who partly grew up in Gaza City and now lives in Nanaimo, said it’s difficult to feel optimistic given that her family and friends living in the Gaza Strip don’t even know if their homes are still standing after months of intense bombing by the Israeli military.
The war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others as hostages.
“We’re hopeful that mass killings are going to stop and people can start looking at what’s next and hopefully attempt to resume back to their lives, as much as they can,” said Kishawi.
Some of her family members were able to leave before Gazan border crossings were closed, but many of her friends and family have remained, spread out and displaced, she said.
They’re excited for the prospect of returning home, Kishawi said. “If it means going back and just rebuilding your home, so be it. People are tired of being crammed into one area that’s not even a safe zone,” she said.
The tentative ceasefire deal would see scores of hostages held in Gaza released and a pause in fighting, with a view to eventually winding down a 15-month war.
Protests and rallies have become a large part of Kishawi’s life since the bombs began dropping in her hometown.
It’s a struggle to know that she’s safe and sound in Nanaimo while family and friends struggle in horrific conditions, said Kishawi, who has taken part in many pro-Palestinian rallies across the Island, and was involved in the protest encampment at Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus last summer.
“We’re talking about starvation. We’re talking about lack of medical care, lack of water, just all of these things that have a hand in making people’s lives hell.
“Going out and protesting and taking action is really a way for us to keep hope that at least there’s people listening.”
Kishawi hopes the ceasefire will eventually lead to Israel being prosecuted for war crimes in the International Court of Justice, and also to citizens of countries that have been “complicit” in the conflict to begin holding their leaders and governments accountable.
Rabbi Harry Brechner of Congregation Emanu-El said the ceasefire might be a “tiny, tiny baby step” for people to begin to heal and to start the slow process of rebuilding trust — in the Middle East as well as on the Island.
Protests have contributed to a “deep, almost violent anti-Israel rhetoric” across North America, though Brechner said local protesters have largely been respectful.
“Nobody’s demonstrating in front of my congregation … I think it’s less raw here in Victoria than it is in other places.”
Organizers of the weekly pro-Palestinian marches in Victoria did not respond Thursday to a request for comment about the potential ceasefire.
Brechner, who grew up in Israel and New York, said there’s a variety of opinions within Victoria’s Jewish community about the situation in Gaza, but the majority are hoping for peace.
“It’s not black and white — the Jewish community is not lockstep on understanding the situation,” he said.
“Most of us are just holding our breath until all of the hostages can come home.”
Brechner said he doesn’t believe a ceasefire will immediately turn into lasting peace. What’s needed is new leadership, he said, adding both Israeli and Palestinian leaders have to be part of the solution.
“It may not be the most popular opinion on the planet, but I really believe that the Palestinian people and the Israeli people — our destinies are linked, whether either side likes it or not.”
Alon Ary, who moved from Tel Aviv to Victoria in 2023, a day before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and has regularly travelled between Israel and Victoria since, said there is general consensus amongst Israelis — apart from the extreme right — in favour of the ceasefire deal.
“The Israeli public is very much eager to get this done and get hostages back,” he said. “The public pressure in Israel is immense.”
But as long as Hamas remains an armed group, it’s difficult for Israelis to imagine what peace and reconstruction can look like, Ary said.
The deal, which will involve Hamas releasing several American citizens who have been held hostage, is just a “gift” for U.S. president-elect Donald Trump from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said.
“We just feel like pawns in a bigger game between the superpowers, and it’s always been like that,” said Ary. “At the end of the day, Israel is dependent on the U.S. in everything, and Netanyahu is dependent on Trump.”
