TOLEDO, Ohio — The Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo has relationships with people in Israel, some who visit Toledo to attend various programs in the area. Toledo is also home to people who have family and friends in the midst of the fighting in Israel, caused by a new level of terrorism.
"It's the largest single deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust," said Daniel Pearlman, vice president of community and government relations for the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo.
The pain in Israel and Gaza is being felt by the Jewish community 6,000 miles away here in Toledo.
"There are reports of whole families being burned alive in their homes," Pearlman said. "Over 40 babies found dead in one location, some of them beheaded. Terrorism doesn't even begin to describe the brutality and barbarianism of this group."
Pearlman is talking about Hamas, the terrorist group that lead the latest attack on Israel Saturday.
"I think it's important to note that not all Palestinians are behind this," said Marc Simon, who chairs Bowling Green State University's political science department.
Simon said Hamas is an Islamist militant organization and one of two political parties governing more than two million Palestinians, many of whom don't agree with its violence but will suffer because of it.
"Unfortunately, the people ruling Gaza have chosen to use violence to try to address that and that's going to bring the weight of the Israeli military on them in a way that hasn't happened," Simon said.
The terrorist attacks on Israel are the largest ever against the country, with thousands killed, hurt, tortured and kidnapped. Also, Pearlman said Israel, or any country has a right to defend itself, especially against a group as savage as Hamas.
"I think the main message here is terrorism is wrong, no matter who causes it, who's the victim," Pearlman said. "Targeting civilians deliberately is wrong and we should all be able to say that, regardless of our backgrounds, that that is unacceptable."
Simon said President Joe Biden's announcement Tuesday that the United States would use force to deter other countries, military and groups from getting involved in the conflict is a good strategy.
"The worst thing from many experts' perspectives is it would escalate because there's a militia up in Lebanon, Hezbollah, that is better armed than Hamas, that could decide to enter this conflict, too," he said.
WTOL 11 reached out to the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo Wednesday to get their thoughts on the fighting. No one returned calls as of late afternoon.
Pearlman said the Jewish Federation doesn't know of anyone directly hurt, missing or killed in the attacks, but the majority of its relationships are in the northern part of Israel, not the south where the terrorists struck over the weekend.
Late Wednesday afternoon, CBS News reported terrorist organization Hezbollah and Israel did exchange fire in northern Israel.
Editor's note: The story was edited to change an error in a subject's name.
More on WTOL: