Local organizations concerned with hate caused by Israel-Hamas war

Officials from the Jewish Federation of Omaha said one of their employees received an anti-Semitic call on Thursday morning. James Donahue, community security director for the Jewish Federation of Omaha, said calls like these tend to be non-threatening, but they are meant to scare the person on the other end of the line.

“They're very careful not to make any specific direct threat, but they know how to entice fear,” Donahue said. “They'll mention things like Hitler. They'll mention concentration camps. They'll mention things that would incite fear into a Jewish person.”

Donahue said calls like these happened before the recent violence in Israel and Gaza. But nationwide headlines are raising concerns for it happening more in Nebraska.

Israel said it carried out a "targeted raid" in northern Gaza Wednesday overnight into Thursday, the most extensive use of Israeli tanks in Gaza since it launched its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, according to NPR.

Israel has increased the intensity of its attacks on the Hamas-run territory over the last few days, with hundreds of airstrikes each night, as Gaza's lack of fuel reaches a crisis point.

Sixty-two aid trucks have entered Gaza since last weekend, carrying much-needed food, water and medical supplies. But none has delivered fuel, which Israel has blocked over concerns it could be stolen and used by Hamas. As a result, aid groups have escalated their warnings. UNRWA, the United Nations agency that provides relief to Palestinians, says it could run out of fuel within a day.

"The situation is terrible and it gets worse by the hour — not even by the day — every hour, things get worse and worse for people in Gaza," Juliette Touma, an UNRWA spokesperson, told NPR.

Law enforcement agencies across Nebraska are sharing concerns that hate crimes and threats could increase in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said as of now there has not been a sharp increase in threats, but adds even non-threatening messages should be reported.

“Whether it's hate literature in a ziplock bag weighted down with corn thrown in someone's driveway, or whether it's a phone call that appears to be hate based in nature, law enforcement wants to be aware,” Hanson said.

Hanson said these hateful actions could escalate to threats, and having records could help in the future.

Ron Todd-Meyer, chair of the anti-war committee at Nebraskans for Peace, said those who are anti-Semitic also tend to be Islamophobic.

“Any time you have people that are a little bit different than you, there tends to be some kind of phobia,” Todd-Meyer said. “That's unfortunate because I think we all have something in common. We all want to live in peace and live with each other.”

One commonality Todd-Meyer discussed was the thousands of Jews who protested in Washington, D.C. last week, calling on the government to stop the violence in Israel and Gaza that impacts both Jews and Palestinians.