Bay Area community reacts to escalating Israel-Iran conflict
'Hands Off Iran' demonstrations brings dozens of demonstrators to San Jose
Organizers of the demonstration at the Dr. Martin Luther King Library in in San Jose are asking the United States government to avoid becoming more entangled in the escalating conflict between Israel, Iran and now the U.S. KTVU's Tori Gaines reports from San Jose.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A "Hands Off Iran" protest is planned to begin at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in San Jose at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Organizers in San Jose are asking the United States government to avoid becoming more entangled in the escalating conflict between Israel, Iran and now the U.S. We spoke to the organizers about why they decided to take their concerns to the streets.
Mike Paradela is a board member with San Jose Peace & Justice Center, one of the organizers of the protest. He says there are big issues right here at home that he hopes to see solved before money is poured into a potential war.
"Just calling on local leaders to demand that the federal government allocate more money for social services for the cities to use and taking it out of the military budget is something that’s very practical to do," Paradela told KTVU.
But people on both sides of the Iran-Israel conflict are concerned about what action, or inaction, could mean.
"For forty years, Iran has been threatening the entire western civilization…if you don’t act now millions of innocent people will die, " Rabbi Shimon Margolin, CEO of Russian-Speaking Jewish Community of SF Bay Area, told KTVU.
"It’s important for folks to know that Jews and Persians are not enemies, and it’s important to make a distinction between the people of Israel and Iran and governments," Tyler Gregory, CEO of Jewish Community Relations Council told KTVU. "That’s one way that we can unpack this difficult moment is recognize that our communities have so much more in common than these divisions overseas."
Gregory went on to say that what's most concerning is the potential for a nuclear Iran. Though he feels diplomacy is an important first step, he isn't against the use of military force to ensure Iran does not have the capacity to build a nuclear bomb.
In the East Bay, Richmond City Councilmember Soheila Bana says she will introduce a resolution concerning Iran this week. That resolution calls for President Donald Trump to support negotiations in the conflict, and it also calls for diplomacy.
Councilmember Bana, who is of Iranian descent, shared her concerns about the dark realities that come from war.
"Some people may believe that this may lead to the toppling down of Iran, and we will have democracy. We need to look at what happened to other countries. Does Afghanistan have democracy? The other countries that have been invaded by the U.S., do they have democracy? Did Israel bring democracy to Gaza?…it’s just pure devastation," Bana said.