On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel from land, air and sea, making it the deadliest day in Israeli history. Hamas is an Islamist militant movement that has had power over the Gaza Strip for nearly two decades. In a matter of 24 hours, 1,200 people were murdered and 251 were taken hostage. Many were killed at the Nova Music Festival and in their own homes near the Gaza border. The war that followed these deadly attacks has continued over the past two years, with more and more lives being lost every day.

However, the war hasn’t just affected those living in the Middle East. Throughout the past two years, both the Palestinian and Jewish communities globally have experienced Islamophobia and antisemitism. This type of hostility can be found on social media, college campuses and in hate crimes.

Within the Archer community, the Jewish Student Union has hosted two commemoration events over the last two years. Spanish teacher Talia Geffen is one of the faculty advisors for JSU. She said the events on Oct. 7 and the hate that has followed created an idea of “us and them,” which makes Geffen concerned for the future.

“I have a lot more fear than I did two years ago just thinking about how my kids are growing up and how our students are growing up,” Geffen said. “There’s just been so much division and black and white thinking around the conflict that’s really intensified over these two years, and that makes me really sad. I think a lot of repair needs to be done.”

Rabbi Calvin Dox-DaCosta is an associate rabbi at the Temple Israel of Hollywood. At TIOH, some of Dox-DaCosta’s responsibilities are leading services, meeting with b’nai mitzvah students and engaging with learners in the congregation. He said following the events on Oct. 7, there was a collective struggle in the Jewish community to come to terms with the impact of the event. As a rabbi, he attempts to balance the wide range of opinions through active listening and accepting all viewpoints without trying to sway others one way or another.

“I have had many conversations with a variety of people in our community who are on opposite ends of the spectrum,” Dox-DaCosta said. “Some of them are really in a lot of grief over this moment and don’t want to talk about Palestine until all the hostages are home. And there are some people who only want to talk about the Palestinians and are very critical of what Israel has been doing. My job is to hold both of those and just to validate how they’re feeling.”

The Archer community has a small Palestinian student population that is also affected by the war. A student who identifies as half Palestinian discussed her experience in relation to the anniversary of the events of Oct. 7. She has requested to remain unnamed due to concerns about the student body’s reaction and will therefore be referred to as Anne.

Anne said she has discussed the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with her family, friends and, occasionally, in classes. While seeing misinformation on social media, she said she encounters a lot of close-mindedness during discussions, one example being from a history class last year.

“Some people just came in with closed minds and weren’t willing to hear other people’s perspectives,” Anne said. “That makes it difficult when they aren’t open to hearing other points of view, and they’re just kind of stuck. I’m not asking them to change their opinion, I just ask them to listen and learn.”

In accordance with President Donald Trump’s deal to end the war in Gaza, Israel began its withdrawal from Gaza on Friday, Oct. 10, almost exactly two years after the initial event. Then, on Monday, Oct. 13, Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages and four of the 28 deceased hostages. Israel, in turn, released 250 Palestinian prisoners, over 1700 detained Gazans who were uninvolved in the Oct. 7 murders and some deceased hostages. Geffen said she feels like she is in a completely different place, even compared to Friday, Oct. 10.

“I’m feeling relief and hope in a way that I haven’t felt for those two years,” Geffen said. “I still feel like the cultural landscape is a bit irreversibly changed, and we’re just in such a different place as Jewish people and societally.”

After hearing the hostages had been returned, Anne said she was very happy. However, she also believes the tension won’t just end here, and there is still more that needs to be done.

“I know that the hostages were freed, but there are a lot of things that still need to happen in Gaza, like rebuilding and stuff like that,” Anne said. “I think it’s just a process, seeing how it goes, seeing if the ceasefire actually is maintained.”

Dox-DaCosta said that with this ceasefire, hope has been at the center of the reactions because people are starting to believe the war is heading in a “better” direction. Although there is an atmosphere of hope, he said many Jewish people are still stuck in the trauma of trying to respond to the physical attacks in Israel and Gaza, but also the attacks on social media through antisemitism.

“Even with the living hostages being returned today, there’s still the question of antisemitism,” Dox-DaCosta said. “There are now receipts online of everyone who has posted, either comments, replies or posted videos themselves — of people just putting themselves out there — being very anti-Jewish, being very anti-Israel. And it’s going to be difficult to figure out what to do with that now.”

In addition to participating in authentic conversations and reading to keep herself updated, Geffen gets involved in JSU by supporting and guiding her students as they create a safe space for the Jewish population at Archer.

“I think it’s been helping to create a really strong JSU that has a big presence on campus and that allows students to find a space to be proud of who they are in their Judaism,” Geffen said. “It’s not perfect, but it’s something we’re trying to foster and help students keep open minds to different perspectives and experiences within our Jewish community — to show that we’re not a monolith, even here, but also to give space for Jewish joy and to see that it’s not all about suffering, and that we can try and hold space for both.”

Dox-DaCosta said he has seen the people in the TIOH community take action by participating in protests for both sides, putting together memorialization spaces within the temple and engaging themselves in torah study to learn more and be proud of their Jewish identity.

Dox-DaCosta himself has gotten involved with protests and commemorations within the temple, but also shows support by wearing the yellow ribbon in solidarity for the hostages. He says this is one of the most consistent action steps he has taken over the course of these two years.

“The biggest thing that I’ve done is also the smallest, which is just wearing the yellow ribbon,” Dox-DaCosta said. “I think that it is such a small gesture; it takes no time at all to put that thing on, and it really does mean so much to so many people in our community and out in public. It’s just been a clear sign of solidarity that people appreciate, that they feel seen and held by their leadership, that their leadership is also on board with wanting the hostages home safely. That is a priority.”

Along with donating to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, Anne said she believes the key to moving forward is not only through service work, but also by avoiding misinformation and taking time to fact-check before discussing the conflict. She said it’s important to understand the bigger picture and although everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it is still important to avoid hate speech.

“No one is looking at this situation and being like, ‘This is what I want to happen,'” Anne said. “I see things online that’s like, ‘All Palestinians are terrorists.’ Obviously, it’s not true. I’m sitting here at school and I’m not doing anything. Misinformation, especially on social media, gets spread so quickly. They’re spreading things that they saw once and think are true, without doing their own research.”

Dox-DaCosta said it is important to realize that the events on Oct. 7 didn’t just happen to one community. He said while it was Israel who was attacked, there were other people from other countries and backgrounds at the Nova Festival, and making room for all opinions to be heard is the key to curing this trauma.

“Let’s just all recognize that the last two years were traumatic and challenging, and we need to actually do the work of reflecting, engaging in dialogue, so that we can move forward as a community,” Dox-DaCosta said. “Not trying to convince anyone one way or another, but really just being able to hold differing opinions in an authentic and respectful way.”

This story was originally published on The Oracle on October 27, 2025.