The Bay Area community is reacting as battles intensified along Israel’s border with Gaza.
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will lead a Jewish community gathering in support of Israel in San Francisco Sunday ahead of a rally in support of Palestinians at the Israeli Consulate.
The assemblages come a day after Hamas militants launched surprise attacks in southern Israel and Israeli forces retaliated. Hundreds were reported dead on both sides.
Pelosi will be joined by Ambassador Marco Sermoneta, the consul general of Israel, for "a communal gathering of unity and peace" at 11:30 a.m. at Congregation Sherith Israel, 2266 California St.,the Jewish Community Relations Council said Saturday.
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"All Jewish community members, organizations, and allies are invited to attend and stand in solidarity with everyone in Israel and pray for peace," the council said in a statement.
A rally "in support of Palestinian self-defense" is planned for 4 p.m. Sunday at the consulate, 456 Montgomery St., according to a press release Saturday from an email address associated with the Palestinian Youth Movement.
Monadel Herzallah, a Bay Area member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said the attack "should be understood as a legitimate reaction to unending violence from Israel's extreme right-wing, racist, white supremacist government and settler movement."
"The Resistance has been warning Israel and its U.S. and Western European patrons to end their attacks on our people, but now we have no choice but to defend ourselves," Herzallah said in a statement.
Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, co-chair of the California Jewish Legislative Caucus, issued a statement Saturday in support of Israel.
"On Shabbat and Simchat Torah -- and on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War -- Hamas terrorists have invaded Israel in an act of war, killing civilians," Wiener said.
"The threat against Israel's right to exist is real. Israel has every right to defend itself and to end this aggression," he said.
