Pro-Palestine Voices Fill Downtown Dallas

Hundreds of protesters lined the sidewalks of downtown Dallas, calling for an end to Israeli air strikes.

 
“We want the bombing of Gaza to stop right away,” said Emad Salem of Euless.
 
“My parents like back there, they live in West Bank. I go and visit every year, twice a year, and I see the suffering there.”
 
Salem said he heard about the rally through a Facebook invitation.
 
Yesmeen Akel of Dallas says the efforts were organized by a group of youth volunteers, calling for the end of what they call the “Israeli occupation” of Palestine.
 
First, however, she says – they’re calling for peace.
 
“We have innocent family members in their house, thinking they’re safe – and the get bombed,” Akel said. “We want peace. We want this to end.”
 
For about a week, Israel has launched air strikes. The government says they are a response to the more than 900 rockets that have been fired toward them, they believe from Hamas and Islamic militants.
 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the exchange of fire.
 
"We're using missile defense to protect our civilians and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles,” PM Netanyahu said. “That's basically the difference. They're embedding these rockets that they're firing wholesale into our cities, terrorist rockets, trying to kill as many as they can,”
 
Officials in Gaza claim at least 166 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died during six days of warfare. They claim more than 1,000 people have been wounded.
 
On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said publicly he’d willing to help secure a ceasefire and peace.
Contact Us