As war in Gaza continues, local leaders look for a way to say yes to life.

The violence that has happened in Israel and Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 is unthinkably horrific. The ever-growing death toll has not abated. Suffering continues. And here in the United States, a polarizing division continues to frame the way people think about this war. The high-profile fallout continues daily, with the announcement on Jan. 2 that Harvard President Claudine Gay would resign after the university’s leadership faced criticism – including grilling at a congressional hearing – over its response to anti-semitisim on campus.

The narrative that has run throughout almost all of this discourse since the day of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israelis has been compelling us to pick a side. The idea I insist on clinging to – that I am on the side of life and humanity, that people of different origins who call a place home should be able to do so peacefully – gets dismissed as naive in conversation. Yet it is, as far as I can see, the only viable option. As a local newsperson in Monterey County, I am not here to offer my policy provisions on how to get there – plenty of other thinkers can explain. All I know is that the sanctity of human life has been utterly ignored in the us-vs.-them narrative.

There has been pressure on individuals and organizations to issue statements, articulating which side they support. (A local reader created an anonymous email address to ask me which side I was on, then disabled the email account before my response was delivered.)

The Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, a nonprofit that supports economic development in the tri-county region, issued a position statement on the Israel-Hamas War on Dec. 12, more than two months after it began, in support of diversity.

“Leaders here in the Monterey Bay region and beyond are appealing to our better natures, reminding us that we are better than our disagreements and perceived divisions. We are connected, all of us – on a neighborhood, community, regional, and global level – and it’s important to remember that challenging times needn’t be polarizing,” the statement read in part. “It’s these moments when we must lean into our humanity and advocate for each other.”

I agree. If we cannot see each other’s humanity in a time of crisis, we reduce each other to enemy status. And MBEP’s statement is shocking for its neutrality and its choice to value life over picking a side in a foreign policy crisis.

“Talking with each other, breaking bread, getting to know ‘the other’ – that’s where the solution is,” says Tahra Goraya, MBEP’s president and CEO. “As leaders and individuals, we show up with multiple identities.”

Well before this war began, Goraya was experiencing life with an identity as a Muslim American woman, visible to all thanks to the headscarf she wears. She is also a mom and a nonprofit executive. As a Muslim living in a minority-Muslim community, she and others like her were working to create community. Goraya and Lynn Bentaleb, whose children are Muslim, started a Facebook group called Monterey Bay Muslim Neighbors to give Muslim residents a place to share ideas and find camaraderie. They did so not related to a war, but last year during Ramadan, when kids in school reported teachers saying condescending things, showing they did not really understand what it meant for kids to celebrate the holiday. (“It’s about joy,” Bentaleb says, noting the narrative of deprivation doesn’t capture the occasion.)

Part of the goal of their virtual group was to build community among themselves. From there, it follows that they would build community with others.

Muslims and Jews and Christians and a list of people of faiths too long to list here all live in Monterey County. It’s up to us to figure out how to do so as a community where all are safe.

The war continues unabated and people are dying every day. But I hope the polarizing intensity in our own community has faded. Gone are the days of considering county resolutions in solidarity with Israel – organizations can now issue statements in support of humanity. Perhaps we can start to demonstrate a model for peaceful coexistence in our own small, community-scale way.

As MBEP put it, “Peace and safety fuel thriving economies, locally and globally.” If empathy doesn’t call to you, try economic self-interest – it’s what’s best for all of us.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com.