- Corpus Christi community members with family ties to Israel-Hamas war in Gaza prepare to host rally
- Israel-Hamas war enters its second month with the death toll reaching an unprecedented number
- Rally to promote peace will be held Saturday, Dec. 9, 12pm-2pm at Water's Edge Park
It's been more than 60 days since the deadly war took over in Gaza. The effects are immensely impacting communities overseas and across the Coastal Bend. Now, residents with family ties to the war are calling for cease fire ahead of local rally.
“At this point, it’s intolerable, people are suffering a lot in Gaza," Samer Jifi, a local resident said.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues to rage on, the number of lives lost has sky rocketed. More than 17,000 people have been killed —at least 70% of them are women and children. It's a war with no end in sight and peace seems impossible.
Kamal Ashour has lived in Corpus Christi for nearly fifty years, but he was born in Palestine, along with family and friends who still live there. Since the war began, he has lost dozens of loved ones to the violence and turmoil.
“I have not heard from any of my sisters or siblings," Ashour said,"I have so many nephews and nieces. All my brothers are dead.”
But he's not alone. Other Palestinian-Americans are losing hope on what they once knew to be called home.
“There’s no hospital to go to. If you have kids who want to go to school, there’s no school to go to. There is no home," Nedal Shheber, who has family living in Gaza, said.
As Israeli widens its offense, civilians continue to seek refuge in neighboring countries. International aid deliveries are also being limited and the United Nations is calling this as a "humanitarian crisis."
“Palestinians are my family," Joumana Abdulrahman, a local Palestinian said, "I grieve as if they were all my aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, because they are.
Many Jewish Americans also criticizing Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Both sides want peace, but their idea of what peace looks like is different.
"I hope it ends with there being a different government for the Palestinians that cares about their future and not about making war and committing terrorism," David Loeb, a local Jewish resident said. "I hope the Israeli's can give that government the space it needs to do that, so eventually everybody can live side by side in peace."
Although community members in Corpus Christi are miles away from the center of the war, the hope is that a peaceful rally will encourage changed minds and hearts for the people of the world.
The rally will be hosted on Saturday, Dec. 9, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Water's Edge Park, 602 S. Shoreline Blvd.
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