For many Jewish people, both in Kansas City and around the world, Oct. 7, 2023 shattered a sense of safety. A surprise attack from terrorist organization Hamas killed some 1,200 people in Israel, and fighters took about 250 others as hostages.
Israel's resulting war has resulted in almost 42,000 Palestinians killed and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
For Neta Meltzer, interim executive director of the Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau, the attacks "felt like a paradigm shift."
"There are a lot more people who sort of wonder about how safe they might be displaying some sort of item that identifies them as Jewish" since the attack, Meltzer told KCUR's Up To Date.
She adds that this heightened anxiety extends to wearing articles of clothing, attending events, or even posting on social media.
"I just remember the fear, like the paralyzing fear of knowing people who are there," remembers Evelyn Brand, a Jewish student at the University of Kansas.
Brand said she even felt worried as a student, although she said she felt supported by KU administrators. "I have friends who went to other schools who had even violent antisemitic incidents," she said.
Jancyn Appel is a Jewish law student who grew up in Kansas City. Like a growing number of young American Jews, Appel increasingly opposes the Israeli government's actions in Gaza.
Appel has also observed increased antisemitism over the last year, but said her primary fear after the war began was for the safety of her Arab and Muslim friends.
Appel tells Up To Date she has multiple friends whose families are in Gaza and Lebanon, where an additional 2,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military in response to attacks from Hezbollah.
"I'm terrified for them to wake up to the fact that their entire family is gone, because that's the reality for a lot of people," Appel says.
Appel asserts that her opposition to the war does not diminish her Jewish identity.
"I am proud to be Jewish. I have never been any less Jewish since Oct. 7," Appel says. "This (war) should not be happening, is the bottom line, and I think we have a responsibility to help this come to an end."
Meltzer says it’s important to remain hopeful for a peaceful solution, and start talking about the future of the Middle East.
"I have been so desperate to see the conversation shift from, again, this idea of what we are against, what we reject, what we want to fight, and more toward what we will build, what we will create," Meltzer said.
- Neta Meltzer, interim executive director of the Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau
- Evelyn Brand, University of Kansas student
- Jancyn Appel, Creighton Law student
Additional listening
KCUR's Up To Date spoke with members of Kansas City's Palestinian community about how the war in Gaza is affecting them.
