'We and Our People in Gaza Are One': Over 10,000 Protest Gaza War and Hunger Crisis in Major Arab Israeli City - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Over 10,000 people protested on Friday in the northern Arab Israeli city of Sakhnin against the war in Gaza and the starvation of its Palestinian population.
A large police presence was reported at the scene of the main protest ceremony, which followed a march from a city mosque toward the municipality's plaza.
A protester holds an image of an emaciated child, Friday.Credit: Daniel Rolider
Speakers at the protest ceremony included Sakhnin Mayor Mazem Ghanaim, who called to end the war during his speech. "We say this clearly – we and our people in Gaza are one. We demand equality and full civil rights – no more wars.
"I want a new Middle East," he continued. "We want an Iron Dome not for the military, but a civil one – from within the people. We want education, employment, healthcare, and to raise our children and grandchildren in the best possible way."
According to him, the Arab community "wants to partner with those who recognize our rights."
A social activist from Sakhnin participating in the protest told Haaretz:
"I wake up every morning with a heaviness in my heart ... because of what I don't see in the streets – the silence."
A young girl at the protest in Sakhnin on Friday.Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters
The protester, Suhair Salah, added, "The children in Gaza are our children. Even if they're physically far, they are part of our story. How can we go on with our daily lives knowing they are starving, and we remain silent?
"The police can confiscate signs, detain people, and disperse protests. But they cannot erase the feelings we've accumulated, the sense that we are fourth-class citizens. I'm here to say we will not be silent."
Another protester told Haaretz that "You don't need to be a politician to understand the injustice here is boundless. And this is an injustice that, if we stay silent, will one day come for us too.
"I'm standing here not just for the children dying there but for my son and my grandson, so that they see their father didn't stay silent," said Musa Abu Ali. "That's our duty – not just to Gaza, but to ourselves."
Protesters in Sakhnin on Friday.Credit: Daniel Rolider
On Thursday night, police declared an anti-war protest in Haifa illegal and arrested at least 24 demonstrators. The protesters, who carried signs calling for an end to the Gaza war, were detained minutes after the demonstration began.
Police claimed they deemed the rally illegal because the protest "could disrupt public order." Officers used force during the arrests, even tearing up protest signs.
A similar protest took place simultaneously in Tel Aviv, though speeches there did not mention the hunger crisis in Gaza, even as some participants held signs addressing the issue.