Tensions flare outside Yorktown memorial for Oct. 7 victims

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y.—A memorial service organized by a Yorktown high school student to honor and mourn the victims of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel ended with verbal confrontations between attendees and a group of protesters outside the Albert A. Capellini Community and Cultural Center.

The Sept. 29 event, the second of its kind organized by YHS Senior Talia Pierson, featured a survivor of the terrorist attack and an American lone soldier who was wounded in Gaza. The packed gymnasium included local officials and community members—most in support of Israel, but some claiming the death of Palestinian civilians in Gaza was being minimized.

The gathering marked the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, honoring the hostages and calling for their release, as groups on both sides of the conflict expressed collective grief over years of war. While the roughly 200 people inside could hear protesters in the parking lot, attendees reported that the atmosphere inside was somber, respectful and dignified.

Pierson, who heads the local chapter of the Justice Brandeis Law Society Junior Board, organized a similar remembrance last year to mark the first anniversary of the attack.

“My objective in organizing this event was to memorialize those killed and affected by the attacks of Oct. 7,” Pierson later told Yorktown News. “I also aimed to create an environment where community members felt comfortable and safe mourning those lost and affected, and where a survivor could share her story."

After organizing last year's memorial, which featured Nova Music Festival survivor Atir Vinnikov, Pierson said she "knew this year would be different" due to divided opinion—even among supporters of Israel—about the conduct of the war.

In a column in this edition of Yorktown News (Page 32), Pierson notes how "sentiment about the war in Gaza has changed as more lives have been lost and not all of the hostages have returned. The Jewish community has been divided by politics in Israel and in the States. "

This year's event included a firsthand account from Oriya Ness Berlin, a survivor of the Re’im Base attack, and additional remarks from Yoni Asayag, an American lone soldier from Queens.

Other speakers included Yorktown Supervisor Ed Lachterman, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins and Congressman Mike Lawler. Local leaders in attendance included members of the Yorktown Town Board, Town Clerk Diana Quast, Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, representatives for Assemblyman Matt Slater and Sen. Pete Harckham, District Attorney Susan Cacace and a handful of local judges and state Supreme Court justices. Chief of Police Robert Noble was also there—with a team of officers in place for safety.

Some of the night’s most emotional moments came with Berlin at the podium. The 21-year-old's voice quivered as she described how 60 armed terrorists infiltrated her base and how she hid in a safe room while hearing her peers and friends being killed in a nearby room. She was one of only a few survivors.

Asayag, who was severely injured while serving in Gaza, said he felt compelled to return to Israel after Oct. 7, recalling how his mother pleaded with him not to go. He said it was a miracle he survived and an “honor” to share his story. His message to the audience was one of gratitude for the support of the hostages from the United States.

Protesters

An evening intended to be a solemn memorial was interrupted by yells and chants from a small, loud group outside the venue. Attendees inside reported feeling fearful as they tried to mourn and eventually exited, many in small groups or pairs for support as they returned to their cars.

Some of those outside said they were frustrated that they were not allowed into the event, which required all attendees to RSVP. There were, however, pro-Palestine supporters in the room. Angela Menawi sat in the back row of the gymnasium on that Monday night, wearing a keffiyeh and a sweatshirt emblazoned with the names of mostly Arab journalists killed in the Gaza conflict.

For some, Menawi's choice to wear the keffiyeh — a checkered garment some consider a symbol calling for Israel's destruction — was threatening. But she argued that wasn't her intention.

“There were people there draped in Israeli flags. I didn't think anything of it. Everyone was just showing support,” she told Yorktown News. “I also know that a lot of people don't acknowledge Palestinians, so I was trying to do my best to do that respectfully.” 

But Yorktown resident Shoshanna Malett, who attended both this and last year's memorials, felt the protests were ill-timed and that it was important to remember the horror of the Hamas-led attack.

“1,200 people were murdered on Oct. 7, including babies, elderly, Jewish and non-Jewish people, and we understand there are still 47 hostages being held in Gaza," she said. "The memorial should be a safe space to grieve and pray with others who are still broken by these events."

She attends Oct. 7 memorials for the same reason she attends Yom HaShoah memorials — Holocaust Remembrance Day — which she said is “hoping for a safe space to mourn, pray and cry. To sing Hatikvah. To be amongst others who feel the same.”

Malett said she has grappled with acts of antisemitism in Yorktown over the past few years, including a swastika carved into a tree along a trail on Turkey Mountain in August and racist, antisemitic and homophobic vandalism at the skate park and track in May. While the group outside was small, the chants—which she described as bigoted—disrupted what should have been a solemn occasion.

“The Jewish community here is small and I was hoping to leave with a feeling of support, not the fear that I actually ended up leaving with," she said.

For Malett, and many others, Oct. 7 is deeply personal, and many feel they are only now beginning to mourn.

Malett, a lawyer with an advanced degree in international law, believes in the importance of productive dialogue. She said she’s never going to convince someone on Facebook to change their opinions, but as antisemitism continues to plague the nation, conversation is essential. She also worries about how social media impacts meaningful discussion and strips fact from the conversation.

She said she even invited someone with a pro-Palestinian viewpoint to share coffee after an exchange on Facebook following the Sept. 29 memorial but was shut down.

“They don’t want to be convinced. They don’t want their minds changed. I don’t know what it is, because I don’t know her, but they don’t want to engage in dialogue,” she said. “What I think people miss, which I think is really important about antisemitism is that you’re attributing—you know, I walked out of that event, and people were screaming at me, ‘Shame, shame,’ you are engaging in genocide.”

Malett said that while at the event, she saw “a woman inside with her child wearing keffiyehs.” She questioned the intention and said, “Why do that unless you are trying to terrorize people?” and “why are you teaching your children hate?”

Menawi, a longtime Yorktown resident now living in Mohegan Lake, is of Italian descent. Her husband is Italian and Egyptian, and they are raising their three children to connect with their Italian roots and ties to the local Muslim community. She said she learned of the Oct. 7 memorial from the flyer posted by the Yorktown Democratic Committee. Noticing that there "weren’t any Palestinian keynote speakers,” she contacted the committee for clarification.  

“I always try to tread lightly and approach with curiosity and respect,” she said, and recalled being told the Sept. 29 gathering was a private event.  

Though the committee was clear it was not their event, Menawi said “by them posting it, they were showing support for it.” She added that “they just kept reiterating [that] this is a private event.”

Menawi said when she asked if the town’s democratic committee would support the memorial event “and acknowledge all sides," she was met with silence.  

“They're not being consistent,” Menawi said. “We're not asking for special treatment. Nobody's asking for special treatment. We're just asking to be acknowledged.” 

She said that she, along with eight women and 10-15 children (including her elementary-school-aged child), RSVP'd for the event with the intention of observing, not protesting.

“We wanted to go and grieve,” she said. “We wanted to show support for our Jewish community, because there are so many Jewish people that are anti-Zionist, that are not in support of Israel, that are not in support of what the government in Israel is doing, and they are ostracized, and they are exiled or excommunicated from their groups—it's not easy for them as well, and we acknowledge that, but that also doesn't mean loss of Palestinian life is OK.” 

Although Menawi was admitted and her name was on the list, she said about half of her friends who also RSVP'd were turned away, despite showing proof. She said she quietly asked organizers and those at the entrance to direct her to someone who could help. 

“Do you know who I can speak to?” she asked someone.  

With her keffiyeh around her shoulders, Menawi recalled being told by a young man, “What you're wearing is deeply offensive to me’… ‘I will not help you.’”  

She told Yorktown News that she said, “OK. You are entitled to your opinion, but we are here peacefully, and we are here in support. And I will say that till I am blue in the face.” 

Pierson said there was no specific deadline to RSVP and there were no requirements for who was or wasn't welcome.

"We did not intentionally exclude anyone who had RSVP'd and even allowed multiple attendees who were not on the printed RSVP list to enter and observe—including those supportive of the Palestinian community—since there were still a few seats open at that time,” Pierson said.  

She added that she was not aware of what the questions being asked were or who was being asked. 

Pierson said when the program began and there were no more empty seats, doors were closed. 

"We wanted to ensure that the audience remained focused on the speakers and there were limited distractions from outside,” Pierson said. 

Multiple attendees told Yorktown News there was no chanting inside the room; there was no direct mention of Palestine. The event inside ended peacefully.

Among those inside was a 55-year-old, 35-year Yorktown resident who described herself as a Muslim who “cares for the oppressed people all around the world.” She asked not to be named out of fear of retribution for her support of Palestine and said she chose to attend the event to hear what would be said.

“I am glad I was there to hear from the two people who were in the IDF,” she said, adding that she “was so surprised to hear them without any evidence of what they were saying. Why didn't they show any of the videos as evidence against Hamas? There are so many videos of innocent Palestinians getting killed in the hospitals, schools, refugee camps and the most horrifying when they are trying to get food they were shot dead.”

“My main reason to be there is to let others know we have an obligation to show the world we also have a right to live peacefully anywhere we are and specially our people in their own homeland Palestine,” she said.

While no voices were raised in anger inside the gym, that wasn't the case outside, where, Menawi said, those who were not allowed inside congregated outside the venue. Their protests punctuated the speeches and, for some, felt threatening.

Several in the audience reported hearing yelling and chanting as the program continued. An attendee later told Yorktown News it sounded like Palestinian flags being held outside were banging against the windows. She asked not to be named out of fear of retribution.

Malett confirmed that account to Yorktown News.

“Every loud bang on a door triggered a trauma response," she said, adding that "loud booms sound like rockets,” which she experienced firsthand in Israel.

She said she wondered, and worried, if violence might ensue.

As Malett listened to Berlin share her story, she said she was struck by the contrast between the emotion inside and what was happening outside.

“She was a kid," she said of Berlin. "We're listening, we're grieving, we're supporting and you look out the window and you're seeing flags being waved and you'e hearing the banging of the doors.

It terrified me and I kept looking for the police officers who I hoped were armed.”

Describing the Sept. 29 memorial as a gathering and mourning space, she called the protests ill-timed.

“This was like being in a funeral and having people screaming at you for mourning your family member because they don't like somebody else's politics,” she said. It was a completely inappropriate thing.”

A video reviewed by Yorktown News showed a small but loud group outside shouting toward people as they exited, at times chanting “Shame on you.” One man yelled “Stop killing babies.”

The words "Go back to your country" could be heard, but it was unclear if that was directed at the IDF soldier or the protesters.

Some attendees said they felt “threatened” and “nervous” while leaving at the end of the program.

But Menawi said the protests, while loud, were not aggressive.

She said chants included “Free Palestine,” “1, 2, 3, 4, occupation no more,” and “Never again for anyone.” She said those outside were upset about not being admitted but insisted they were “peaceful.”

“Nobody was there with the intention to boycott or protest the event,” Menawi said.

Pierson said she heard some chanting from outside the venue during the program, including “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea”— a slogan that some say simply advocates for Palestinian rights but others believe is a call for Israel's destruction — but added that she “tried to remain focused on the program” and wanted to be sure the speakers of the evening “and the audience remained calm and comfortable.”

Menawi acknowledged what she called "generational pain" on both sides of the conflict.

“There’s going to be fear, especially when there isn't understanding,” she said, adding that she is considering a similar event focused on those who have died in Gaza.

“We are peaceful," she said. "We want to support. We want to connect—we are all community. We showed up to try to break that barrier, and I don't know why people didn't let them in." 

Malett said she and her family exited to the left while the group remained confined to the right, though she could hear them in the distance.

“They yelled ‘shame on you, shame on you,’ and I heard the word ‘genocide,’” she recalled. “I am a Jewish woman whose family members were killed in an actual genocide. And I kept thinking, ‘Why are they humiliating me? Yelling at me? They don't know me, they don't know what I support and what I believe.’

“I was at a memorial, crying, sad. This was not a pro-Israel event,” she added. “It was completely inappropriate to accuse and threaten me with horrible words that reach directly into my collective and personal trauma.”

Malett said the experience left her questioning protesters' intentions and believes they were bigoted by painting all Jews with a broad brush.

“I’m thinking to myself—you don’t know my political views," she said. "You don’t know if I support what the Israeli government is doing. You don’t know anything about me. The reason you’re outside protesting is because of who I am, not what I believe. You’re yelling at me and shaming me because of who I am, not because of what I believe.

"Just because I’m Jewish, I should not be held responsible for the choices of the Netanyahu government. What are you doing? That’s antisemitism. Screaming at me because of who I am—that’s racism, not because of what I believe. And that’s what they were doing.”