From the state Capitol to school campuses, hundreds of people in the Sacramento area have rallied in support of Palestinians and a ceasefire in Gaza over the past couple weeks.
Sacramentans with family in Palestine as well as people from other backgrounds are calling on the Israeli government to stop its weeks-long siege of Gaza and urging U.S. government representatives to demand de-escalation.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday that since Oct. 7, more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military air strikes. Noel Hassouneh, who has joined multiple protests in Sacramento, said at least seven of her extended family members are among the dead.
They include Sherif Ashraf Hassouneh, Aya Khamis Hassouneh, Sherif Atta Hassouneh, Imad Atta Hassouneh and Muhammad Imad Atta Hassouneh, whom she said were killed during airstrikes in Gaza on Oct. 14 and 18. The youngest identified was five years old.
A baby in the Hassouneh family between one and two years old was also killed, though not identified, she said. Because the family was wiped out, Hassouneh said they have not been able to find someone who knows the baby’s name.
“These are civilians that are dying in Gaza,” Hassouneh said. “Whether they agree with what's happening politically or not, they don't have a choice to even make a political statement. They're just trying to eat and they're trying to live.”
Some of her late relatives fled from northern to central Gaza, Hassouneh said, when the Israeli government ordered roughly 1 million people to move south to avoid air strikes. But they were killed in their in-law’s home after evacuating their own home in northern Gaza.
With all the devastating updates from family and social media, Hassouneh said she can’t concentrate on work. She has been focusing on protesting, boycotting companies, asking schools and corporations to divest money from Israel and petitioning governments to sanction Israel.
Hassouneh added organizations such as Amnesty International have called Israel's attacks war crimes. United Nations experts last week urged the prevention of genocide and said Israel's siege of Gaza violates international law. The U.S. government has continued to support Israel.
“Our tax dollars are going to fund the the Israeli war on Palestine, the genocide that Israel is committing,” Hassouneh said. “So we're asking people to call their congress people to stop the genocide in Gaza. That's what we're asking people to do because we are complicit in it.”
Khaled Ali said he joined a prayer and march for Palestine on Oct. 20 for similar reasons. Along with his cousin Nagieb Musaid, he drove from Modesto to participate in the downtown Sacramento demonstration organized by the local Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. Ali said U.S. government officials should condemn, not enable, the killings in Gaza.
As a Yemeni American and Muslim American, Ali said he feels personally connected to Palestinians.
“We've faced similar atrocities at the hands of the United States foreign policy,” Ali said. “And right now, that's again, enabling the killing of these people, which very easily could be anybody in the Middle East. It already has been many countries in the Middle East. It's been Afghanistan; it's been Iraq.”
Musaid said the concept of Ummah, which means one community, also ties him to Muslims in Gaza. He added that it’s sickening to see images of children suffering from bombings on social media.
“If you believe the same belief I have, then we are technically, in our religion, brothers and sisters,” Musaid said. “So, that's why we feel so strong about Palestine and especially what's happening.”
Before the march, both Ali and Musaid joined hundreds of other people in a prayer at the state Capitol. Basim Elkarra, the executive director of the local CAIR who is Palestinian American, gave a sermon and remarked on how the community united in prayer and protest.
“In the Muslim community and people of conscience, there's a spiritual awakening happening that's taking place, where Muslims are learning more about Palestine and what it means for the Ummah,” Elkarra said during the service. “They're learning more about the religion to contextualize what is happening in the world today and all the oppression in the world today, and what is our role to make a difference in all of that.”
Basim Elkarra, executive director of California CAIR, addresses a crowd of demonstrators gathered to pray at the state Capitol in support of Palestinians Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today
