The one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas is being met with a mood of somberness and waning optimism in Colorado Springs and other communities.

“It’s very difficult to be Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Palestinian, Arab right now. It’s very difficult to be human right now,” said Associate Professor G. Carole Woodall, who teaches history at the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado.

While events are planned in cities around the nation to remember the day Hamas launched a surprise attack at a concert in Israel near the Gaza border, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 civilians, the weight of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite militia based in Lebanon, expanding violence against Israel, and Israel Defense Force’s counterattack, feels almost too heavy to bear.

The Oct. 7 tragedy — recognized as the largest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust — is “a very omnipresent kind of awareness,” said Jeff Ader, president of Temple Beit Torah, a reform synagogue in Colorado Springs.

“I think people will be briefly remembering the anniversary of a very heinous, abhorrent act of terrorism that moved the tensions in the region into what seems like all-out war,” he said. “There’s a lot of sadness, a lot of anger, a lot of frustration.”

Ader said Jews are still holding out hope that remaining missing hostages, presumably alive while being held in Gaza, will be reunited with family and friends.

War rages on multiple fronts as Israel marks a year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack

And they stand by Israel’s right to defend itself, he said, particularly after the atrocities Hamas committed in raping, beheading, maiming and inflicting other brutality against innocent people.

“These are the kinds of things that no human being should ever do or have done to them,” he said.

Pro-Palestinian groups have protested Israel’s military response and the devastation in the West Bank, saying the fighting is lopsided as many more Palestinians have died than Israelis.

Around the world, pro-Palestinian protests were held over the weekend, in cities including New York City; Austin, Texas; Istanbul, Turkey; Rome, Italy; Santiago, Chile; Bengaluru, India; and Quito, Ecuador.

“We are terribly saddened by the fact that innocent civilians on both sides are being killed,” Ader said. “I think we all decry, we all denounce the life of innocent lives — there’s no doubt about that.”

Local public protests have been subdued in recent months, which concerns Woodall, who said she does not speak for UCCS but is expressing personal views.

“It’s been quiet on campus, and that is I think what I find to be disturbing, given the number of Palestinian deaths, at 41,000 being reported and the sense that thousands of bodies have not been identified and recovered,” she said.

Silence suggests normalization of the situation, Woodall said.

“As opposed to — which is my question — how do we continue to sustain a dialogue about what is continuing?” she said. “That it’s not just over there, that it actually does resonate here with people that might feel uncomfortable to say something or might not know how to say something.

“There’s an enormity to it; there’s also a sense of helplessness, of being hopeless and trying to tap into those reactions is really important to recognize, respect and use as a place to start having a conversation.”

That the fighting has intensified in recent weeks is “alarming,” Woodall said, as she believes nothing will change the dynamic of the Middle East until the battles cease.

Israel marks Oct. 7 anniversary under shadow of escalating war

After the war started last year, Woodall organized two teach-ins about the Middle East and conflict between Israel and Hamas on the UCCS campus. She said her message has been consistent: “how can we as a community continue to sustain a dialogue.”

“I want to think through what does it mean to recognize genocide and at the same time be able to have a conversation,” Woodall said. “I have friends in the West Bank, Beruit and Jerusalem, and I position the work I do in the classroom as based on humanizing the region, starting with a name, and with a name comes history.”

Ader believes some pro-Palestinian protesters do not understand the history of the region and how terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah have “been winning the propaganda war by lying to people.” Israel became a nation state in 1948, and a takeover in 2007 led Hamas to become the governing body.

“Because of the way Hamas and Hezbollah use citizens as human shields, there are human lives being lost all the time in Palestine, Lebanon and Israel,” Ader said. “That saddens us because we cherish human life and all people’s right to peace and freedom.”

It’s been a tough year, physically and spiritually, said Rabbi Boaz Vituk, executive director of Chabad of Colorado Springs Jewish Community. He said he has family, friends and rabbinical peers in Israel.

“Many Chabad houses and Jewish communities in Israel are bending over backwards and struggling to take care of Jewish soldiers and families, who have members or friends who were injured or murdered,” Vituk said.

Rabbis worldwide are emphasizing unity within the Jewish nation and across the globe, he said.

“Our biggest strength is our unity, which we ask for in our prayers,” Vituk said. “Blessings come when there is unity and God’s presence, and then there is no hatred toward some of us. We have many differences — in our outlooks on life, observance of faith and politics, which can separate people.”

In one year of war, Israel strikes 40,000 Hamas targets in Gaza

Last year’s bombings began at the onset of the Jewish observance of the “10 days of repentance,” which include the high holy days of Rosh Hashanah, held last week to signify new beginnings, and Yom Kippur, which begins Friday evening, and is when Jews seek to atone for their sins and reconcile with God.

The messages are related to hope, Ader said.

“We believe every day that dawns is a new day that gives us a chance to redeem ourselves, to make the world a better place and have a positive impact on humanity,” he said. “Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur teach that and help us name this new beginning and rekindle the flame of peace and hope and freedom.”

The Chabad rabbi, Vituk, said: “We believe through charity, prayer, unity, repentance, kindness and study of Torah, we will ring the blessing that the nation of Israel will be redeemed from oppressors.”

Is peace possible?

“The title of the national anthem of Israel, Hatikvah, means hope (in Hebrew). We always have hope,” said Ader of Temple Beit Torah. “At this point in time it’s overshadowed by a little bit of pessimism, but there’s always hope.”