PORTLAND, Ore. — From Seattle to Los Angeles to New York, Americans are protesting over violence in Israel. In Portland, one family waits patiently by the phone to hear from their family members living in Israel.
"There's nothing we can do but wait," said Joel Beinin. "The kids made it out okay and have been evacuated and we haven’t heard anything about either my niece or her husband."
Beinin said when the Hamas militants attacked their city Saturday, his niece went into a shelter and her husband went into the streets to fight.
Now, his niece, who is a U.S. citizen, was reported missing.
"If you attack unarmed civilians, that’s a war crime," Beinin said. "It’s a war crime when the Palestinians do it and it’s a war crime when the Israelis do it. There’s no difference there."
Beinin was a professor of Middle East History at Stanford University for 35 years and he's concerned that violence will escalate in the days to come.
"I think it is very likely that there is going to be a blood bath," Beinin said. "Many thousands of Israelis, really the whole country, are totally traumatized and demanding revenge and the government is going to deliver it to them because otherwise it will lose its legitimacy."
As Israel makes attacks of its own, Beinin knows the outcome for his family could be a devastating one.
"I am trying hard not to make idle speculation. We do know a significant number of that kibbutz were kidnapped and taken to Gaza but I don’t think there’s any information about names," Beinin.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed to NBC News on Sunday that Americans may be dead or taken hostage after the Hamas attacks.
"I would like to see a fair and just and peaceful resolution to this conflict," Beinin said.
The attack on Saturday happened on Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday.
"It's supposed to be one of the most joyous in the Jewish calendar," said Bob Horenstein, director of community relations for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. "To confront this sort of shocking news, it's been, it's just been really difficult."
The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is planning a community gathering on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Neveh Shalom in Southwest Portland.
A pro-Palestine rally was held in Portland Sunday, organized by the Portland Party for Socialism and Liberation.
In a statement the group said in part, "The unrelenting oppression, murder, torture and occupation carried out by the Israeli apartheid regime has precipitated a counter-offensive by Palestinian resistance forces."