Covering Hateful Messages with Love

Kira Trinity always knew she lived in a progressive and liberal town – Arcata, in Northern California – and her Judaism was never an issue. Then, Oct. 7 happened, and everything changed.

According to Kira, the local pro-Palestinian group, Humboldt for Palestine, started carrying out hate crimes all over town and gathering to sing celebrations of Jewish genocide every week. They have also allegedly been sending threats to local government officials to attempt to blackmail them into voting for ceasefire resolutions, and a sign that said “Butcher Zionist Pigs” was discovered at a local hospital.

“I find that these ‘protesters’ are not activists at all. They’re like terrorists instead,” said Kira. “I come from a culture of real activism, where calls for war are met with calls for actual peace. I am fully aware that ‘ceasefire,’ when these people shout it, really means ‘surrender Israel. I don't believe pro-Palestinian liberals have peace in mind at all. In fact, they wish for the death of Jews.”

While the incidents all over town were distressing, nothing hit too close to home.

And then, it happened: on the wall in the art department bathroom at Cal Poly Humboldt, someone wrote, “Our solidarity is their greatest fear! Free Palestine. Land Back”. When Kira's friend showed her the image of the bathroom wall, she immediately joined in on an effort to paint over it.

“I and my other Jewish Zionist friend decided to do a little activism and paint a message of peace instead,” she said. “She did most of the organizing, and I came up with the image.”

The image, of a Jewish woman in an Israeli shirt and an Arab woman in a Palestinian outfit holding hands, was inspired by a sticker from artist KosherIshDesigns on Etsy.

“I asked them if this image would be OK to recreate as it is the most peaceful message I have seen in this entire debacle,” said Kira.

The mural completely covers the hateful graffiti, and so far, it has gone untouched. Kira is checking on it and making sure that it stays intact.

“We are hoping that the message is strong enough that someone who opposes it will have to face their cognitive dissonance and change their thinking, even a little bit,” she said. “I am tempted to recreate this mural in other places as a consistent call for peace.”

Reconnecting With Her Judaism

Kira is like many Jews who have gotten more in touch with their spirituality and community since Oct. 7. She estimates that in her town of 160,000 people total, there are less than 100 Jews.

“Many of us are very active and vocal people, as Jews tend to be, and we have been holding down the fort however we can,” she said. “Many of us have started going to service and observing Jewish traditions more than we have in a long time and thereby finding community with each other.”

For the past eight years, she’s been going to Hanukah on the Arcata Plaza, a holiday celebration in her town, and this past December, more people showed up than ever before.

“It was so wonderful to see that many faces and feel the growth of our Jewish identity locally,” she said. “I've heard from the wife of the Rabbi who runs the local Chabad that she too has observed an increase in participation in their services and Shabbat dinners. Several Israelis who have lived here for years are now close friends. Yet before Oct. 7, none of us even knew each other.”

She continued, “I haven't collaborated or connected with a community in years, and it has been almost magically easy to connect with the Jewish community in these last few months.”

Kira, who grew up in the Russian-Jewish community in LA but moved away from practice as she got older, is welcoming the reconnection with her Jewish brothers and sisters, since they know exactly what she is going through.

“I can pretty much say that all my current friends are brand new,” she said. “I had to distance myself from just about everyone after October 7 because, being an ultra-liberal queer, there was no safe place for me and others like me. Over the last decade I have slowly been walking back to my roots, missing the culture and the rituals as well as the feeling of community. However, the post-October 7 shift shoved so many of us who were just on the outskirts straight into the center.”

Despite feeling isolated among her old friends’ group and in her town, Oct. 7 sparked an incredible feeling in Kira and the Jews around her. Now, she is excitedly declaring her identity to the world, and isn’t afraid to back down.

“I feel like my Jewish identity has exploded in importance to me,” she said. “As a result, I'm a proud Jew and a proud Zionist now. I never would have said that before.”