With a ceasefire on the table in Israel-Hamas war, Austin community hopes to heal, unite
On Wednesday, a long-awaited message came through: after 15 months of intense warfare, loss and fear, a cease-fire was on the horizon. On Sunday, it came true.
The ceasefire will bring an end to fighting for 42 days, allowing necessary aid to enter Gaza and 33 Israeli hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. President Joe Biden said the next phase, which has yet to be worked out, would bring the release of all hostages, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire.
For Jewish and Palestinian communities and activists in Austin, a ceasefire has been a long-awaited and often distant hope. But on Wednesday, when word of one surfaced, they watched Israelis and Gazans rejoice through social media and the news, allowing a cautious optimism to settle in.
Courtney Toretto, director of policy for the Austin chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, “obsessively” checked her phone for updates as rumors floated about a ceasefire earlier in the week. When the ceasefire proposal was confirmed Wednesday, “I cried,” Toretto said.
“For over 15 months, family members, friends and so many across Israel and here in Austin, we've fought tirelessly and unwavering on behalf of the hostages,” Toretto said. “And for the first time in a while, there's a hope that they will return.”
Zainab Haider, an organizer for the Austin Palestine Coalition, was at the library when she got the news and felt shocked. Walking to the bathroom, she began processing her whirling emotions: excitement and skepticism, but also a heaviness.
“It was a very complicated set of emotions,” Haider said. “On one hand, it’s excitement and relief for the people there who this is a moment that they've been waiting for so long, and then shock and discomfort, wondering if there's a catch ... and then just a lot of grief.”
In Austin, Jews and Palestinians have grieved, mourned and demonstrated in the 15 months since Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and the ensuing violence in Gaza — and have largely felt misunderstood or excluded from their communities while doing so.
Haider has seen the news almost every day of Gazans dying, of destroyed buildings and cities, of refugees in tents, and she felt "vicarious trauma" as others around her seemed to disengage. As she celebrates the ceasefire and the return of the hostages to Israel, she also wonders, “What’s next?”
“It’s a welcome moment, but it’s something we always considered to be the floor,” Haider said.
For Toretto, she worries about Hamas, the militant governing body in Gaza, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, remaining in power. Her hope for the region is peace for all.
"The ceasefire isn't just about the hostages. It's also about giving respite to Gazan civilians who have also been long victimized by Hamas. One of the concerns about what's going on is that Hamas remaining in power, and that means they can continue to perpetuate a cycle of violence, not only against the Israeli people, but also the Palestinian people," Toretto said. "Truly seeing peace and truly seeing coexistence, that's my big hope."
Haider also said she hopes it rebuilds as a land of freedom and equal rights and movement for everyone in the region — Israelis and Palestinian alike.
How has Austin been affected by Israel-Hamas war?
Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group's soldiers launched a surprise attack on the Jewish state, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. The ensuing violence in Gaza to target Hamas' leaders has devastated Palestinians living in the region, where The Washington Post has reported that 90% of residents have been displaced, and more than 46,000 have died, according to Al Jazeera.
When Rabbi Daniel Septimus, chief executive officer of Shalom Austin, saw news of a ceasefire, he felt "cautious hope."
"All of us want to see a resolution to this conflict and that all the hostages, dead and alive, are returned home to their loved ones," Septimus said. "There's a long, long road ahead in the next 40-plus days as the first phase is implemented, and praying that Hamas holds up what they've agreed to."
On the one-year anniversary of the attacks, Shalom Austin held a Day of Observance for Israel, and Gov. Greg Abbott and Jewish leaders spoke about rising antisemitism since the attacks and came together in mourning, praying for the hostages still held in Gaza to be free. Weeks after Hamas' 2023 offensive, Shalom Austin hosted survivors of the deadly attacks and family members whose loved ones were held hostage. University of Texas Jewish students have also held vigils attended by hundreds of students and community members.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protests and vigils have been held throughout the city to mourn the tremendous loss of life, condemn the violence in Gaza, and demand more from local leaders to acknowledge and stand against the suffering. In April, protests at the University of Texas, where demonstrators called on UT to divest from weapons manufacturers, resulted in more than 130 criminal trespassing arrests that were later dismissed, as well as at least two student suspensions, dozens of disciplinary proceedings and two ongoing lawsuits against the university.
Both Jewish and pro-Palestinian activists have advocated at the Capitol and have attended most Austin City Council meetings, imploring officials to listen to them.
Septimus said there are more than 1,600 Israeli families in the greater Austin area who have been affected deeply by the war. Many families moved here after Oct. 7, 2023, looking for a peaceful place, he said, but have also encountered antisemitism and hostility in their new home.
Toretto said there has been an "explosion" of antisemitism since the war began. From Oct. 7, 2023, to Oct. 1, 2024, ADL Austin recorded 79 antisemitic incidents. The incidents in the last three months of 2023 surpassed the entire number of incidents recorded in 2022, and 2024 had the highest number of antisemitic incidents the chapter has recorded in its 12-year existence.
Islamophobia has grown, too. Muslim and Palestinian residents have faced harassment and violence in Austin, including a February stabbing of a 23-year-old Palestinian man in West Campus that officials classified as a hate crime. In Texas, a state largely supportive of Israel, many Palestinians feel ignored, unsupported and dehumanized by politicians.
“We felt like the value of our lives had been diminished,” said Luai Abou-Emara, a Palestinian Austinite.
Abou-Emara said his Palestinian friend’s sibling was killed in Gaza on Friday, just two days before the ceasefire. He lost five members of his extended family in a bombing in Gaza earlier in the war and felt especially discouraged by the City Council's reluctance to pass a ceasefire resolution as he and other activists had implored.
Compelled to do something with the helplessness he felt, in 2024 Abou-Emara started a book club to help educate people on Palestinian lives and history. He has also been on social media and in activist efforts, trying to educate people about the war.
“There is happiness, there is celebration that people are not going to be bombed anymore,” he said. “But for us in the United States, the work is never done."
When a permanent ceasefire is achieved, Gaza will have to rebuild, and Abou-Emara wants the Palestinian people to have greater freedom. According to a 2022 Human Rights Watch article, Israel and Egypt have restricted access and goods into and out of the territory since Hamas took power. Even before the war, occupied Gaza has had very dire economic conditions due to the blockade, Al Jazeera reported.
Abou-Emara who is also involved in the Austin for Palestine Coalition, said that though he and Haider haven't felt support from politicians, they have felt tremendous support from the community.
The students who protested, Haider said, "so many of them, they got injured, they got suspended. They had nothing to gain. They could have just gone on with their lives, but they could not. They saw a moral situation in which they had to take action."
Going forward, Haider said, the Austin for Palestine Coalition will continue advocating for organizations to boycott Israel and still work to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
Septimus said he hopes people will begin to call out antisemitism when they see it and stand up for their neighbors.
"I would encourage those who are observing and get that feeling in their gut that something's wrong or something's off, to say something, to ask questions, to engage," Septimus said. "Because the more people that do that, the more understanding we'll have in our society and the closer we'll come to letting others know, who are committing such horrific acts or saying such horrific things, that that's wrong and we're not going to stand for it in our community."
Austin has a sizable Israeli and Palestinian population affected deeply by the war, Toretto said. What she’s advocated for in remarks at City Council meetings and in tough conversations is to come together in humanity. She is hopeful that a ceasefire will inspire that unity locally.
“It's so deeply personal for so many people, and being able to hold all the grief and all the trauma and really try so hard to find a way to keep our community together, to have difficult conversations, when possible, to advocate for our community, but really seek the humanity of all Austinites, It's been a big priority for ADL,” Toretto said. “With the ceasefire resolution, I hope it holds, I hope we can start to heal and really focus on coming back together as Austinites.”