Kol Ami News

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Palestinian and Jewish communities in Utah are grieving the loss of the civilians who have been killed or kidnapped since the war between Israel and Hamas started at the beginning of October.

As of Sunday, 200 Israelis are being held captive and nearly 8,000 Palestinians have been killed.

On Sunday afternoon, the Jewish community met at the Utah State Capitol for a vigil and to pass out fliers for the hundreds of Israeli civilians being held hostage.

“I think the world is focusing a lot on what is happening in terms of violence and is already forgetting why this war began, which was because Hamas savagely attacked Israel and killed 1,400 innocent civilians,” Congregation Kol Ami Rabbi Sam Spector said.

They laid out shoes on top of the fliers to visually represent those who have been kidnapped.

“When you see an actual visualization and see a teddy bear for every child or a pair of shoes for every person, a table set up on Shabbat with empty seats including highchairs for each one of these individuals, it brings it home that each of these is a unique person,” Rabbi Spector said.

He said he hopes that the end result of the war will be a more peaceful future for everyone in the region.

“It's important for everyone out there to remember that, on both sides, there are everyday innocent people who are good people,” he said.