Tensions in the Middle East are high, with Iran and Israel trading drone strikes in recent days. Looking ahead, University of Chicago student Hassan D. doesn’t worry so much about direct violence. He worries about his family in Iran facing increased retaliatory sanctions .
“It doesn’t scare me that much that there will be a war on Iran that will put my family at risk of, let’s say, being hit with missiles…,” said Hassan, 21, who didn’t give his last name out of privacy concerns. “I think the sanctions are going to get worse, and slowly that will kill people.”
In the wake of Iran’s unprecedented missile attack on Israel last weekend, the fear of an escalating conflict is sinking in for Hassan other Chicagoans with ties to the Middle East. As those in the region brace themselves for a possible expanding war, they worry for the safety and well-being of their families.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza and Israel, St. Xavier University student Majid Matariyeh has already been hearing bleak updates from family members in Gaza and the West Bank. As young cousins of his die of starvation, other relatives in Jordan are rioting in support of Palestinians.
Matariyeh said he’s scared for his family’s safety, but doesn’t want to let them think he’s lost hope.
“The way I see it, there’s always going to be that sense of fear wherever you go, whether it’s in America, whether it’s in Jordan, whether it’s in Palestine,” he said.
Roscoe Village teacher Itai Segre, 37, grew up in Jerusalem and moved to the U.S. nearly eight years ago. His parents and siblings still live there. Watching the war unfold from afar has sparked a familiar sense of anxiety paired with resilience. His family has been through similar military tension before, he said.
“I’m scared of an escalation in the war that gets out of hand,” Segre said. “Wars are unpredictable, you don’t know where they will go, who will be hurt and how it will unfold.”
“It is different than times in the past, but it’s not the first time it’s been very tense,” he said.
Iran launched hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles into Israel last weekend in response to Israel’s attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1. Israeli military reportedly responded Thursday with a strike in the city of Isfahan, according to U.S. officials, but Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The U.S. also issued new sanctions on Iran Thursday to “further degrade Iran’s military industries.”
Experts and advocates have sounded the alarm for a full-blown regional war given the rapidly escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. Some American organizations, like the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Jewish Voice for Peace, remain critical of the U.S. support of Israel and push for President Joe Biden to call for a cease-fire. Others, like the Anti-Defamation League, say they are “supportive of ongoing diplomatic efforts” but saw issues with some cease-fire resolutions.
Serious sanctions have been in place in Iran for decades, altering the quality of life for people living in the country — including Hassan’s extended family on both sides. They struggle to access medicine, deal with intense inflation and reach certain Western websites. With the latest developments, he expects those daily tasks to grow that much harder.
“It is jadedness in a sense, but it’s accumulated trauma that builds on itself,” he said.
In Israel, the realities of the war are present in daily life, an “overhang” of uncertainty and anxiety, according to Deb Zaluda, a Lincoln Park lawyer and Jewish National Fund volunteer whose daughter lives in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Zaluda, who’s been to Israel several times since the October onset of the war on volunteer trips and to visit her daughter, says people are trying to maintain a sense of normalcy while also noting consequences of the violence or protesting the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Everywhere you go in Israel, there’s photographs of hostages,” said Zaluda, 63. “There is that thought of just wanting to be aware of your surroundings.”
There’s the clear threat of violence following Iran’s recent involvement, but there’s also the threat of more militarization of the country, according to Segre.
“I am worried about if there’s a war going on, physical harm that could happen,” he said. “There’s also the possibility that the social fabric will change or break down in some way, and then there’s all kinds of dangers that can happen. I am also worried about Israel becoming more militarized than it already is.”
But the paramount concern for Segre is the safety his family and friends, but also of Palestinians in the area, many of whom were friends of his while he lived there.
“Basically everyone that lives in Israel and Palestine should have civil and human rights, regardless of their religion ethnicity or nationality,” he said. “It’s kind of a simple demand. For Americans it seems kind of trivial, but in Israel it’s not really seen that way.”
The trajectory of the war is uncertain, and sometimes people with ties to the region see their hope waver. But mindset is everything, Matariyeh says.
“If you have people around you that are hopeless you’re gonna feel hopeless,” he said. “If there’s people around you that say turn back to god, you’re gonna want to keep fighting the good fight.”
Though the outlook in the region may seem somewhat bleak, Hassan said that the threat of a regional war and more extreme sanctions on his family could have been avoided if a cease-fire resolution had been reached earlier.
“To me it’s this should have never gotten to this point. There should have been a cease-fire so much longer ago,” he said.
Contributing: Associated Press