Hundreds march for peace, freedom in Palestine

Ashley Paul
·2 min read
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hundreds of people take to the streets of Downtown Memphis today to show support for Palestine as the deadly war between militant group Hamas and Israel rages on in the Middle East tonight.

It’s now been a little more than two weeks since that attack by Hamas that Israeli government officials say left 1,400 Israelis dead, thousands of others injured, and more than 200 taken hostage.

For two hours Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people marched from the FedExForum to Tom Lee Park to make sure their voices were heard.

“I am just a regular Muslim who is looking for peace, living in the United States,” said Palestinian-American Karim Shamoon. “What we really need to look at again, is what is the root cause of this problem. This is a reaction, not an action.”

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Some who spoke with WREG believe that Hama’s October 7 attack on Israel was in response to decades of occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. Some said that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

“What they’re doing right now, with all the destruction that they’re doing to residential buildings, to hospitals, to mosques, to churches, everything that they’re doing, we all know what they’re doing. Would you consider that as self-defense?” Shamoon said.

But others might argue that this is self-defense. The militant group’s attack left thousands of people, including women and children, dead in Israel.

“I don’t care what you think about Hamas, I don’t care what you think about Israel,” said Amena Alkeswani. “There is a humanitarian crisis. There are war crimes.”

Sunday’s march called for an immediate end to the blockade and siege on Gaza and an immediate end to military aid from the US to Israel. But, perhaps most pertinent, a plan for a peaceful future.

“Just by looking at what’s happening now, everybody wants peace,” Shamoon said. “What we’re asking for in this march is to cease fire. We need to cease fire. We need to sit down and talk.”

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