Photo by Samantha McClain

Andrea Tennison, left, holds two signs toward traffic moving along the intersection of W. New Hope Road and S. Promenade Boulevard on Sunday, Nov. 19. About 20 to 30 people gathered to protest violence in Gaza and to call for a ceasefire.

Group calls for ceasefire

Samantha McClain
Managing Editor

ROGERS — Area protesters of the war in Gaza took their message calling for a ceasefire to a busy Rogers intersection on Sunday, Nov. 19. The protest occurred on W. New Hope Road and S. Promenade Boulevard in Rogers. 

Protesters of the war in Gaza, who support Palestinian refugees, held signs and the Palestinian flag. Their protest was against the violence that challenges American values and sought to denounce the killings in Gaza, Arshad Shaikh, one of the protest organizers, said.

“We believe in the Holy Book that states killing innocent people is just like killing humanity,” Shaikh said, referring to the Quran. Nobody is speaking on behalf of the unjust violence of innocent people, Shaikh said, adding that  people want Israel and Palestine to live peacefully side by side.

“Free Free Palestine,” was shouted by protesters standing at the 4-way intersection with signs that stated, “Ceasefire now, Save Lives” and “Honk if you support ceasefire #show Humanity is not dead #End all Violence now.” 

About 20 to 30 protesters attended the event in the light rain and 60 F temperatures. Cars honked at the protesters in response to the signs. A few drivers rolled down their windows to encourage the protesters, and some thanked them for protesting.

“Save Gaza, Save Humanity,” according to the post on Facebook by Arkansas Antiwar Alliance. “We call for ceasefire now… Let us stand for Humanity, Truth, Justice, Peace, Equality, Freedom, and Non-Violence.”

Children, women, and the elderly are suffering in thousands, and it is a useless war, Hamed Alalamat, an adjunct instructor at NorthWest Arkansas Community College, said. The protesters want their voices to be heard and to stop the violence,  Alalamat said. 

“We must stop this violence, or the circle of violence will continue,” Alalamat said. 

“My father was born in the Be’er Sheba area, and my mother in the Jafa area before Israel was established,” Alalamat said. “They were driven out to the West Bank when Israel took their houses and lands in 1948 (the Naksah/catastrophe). They lived as refugees in poverty and miserable conditions in the West Bank for years. After they moved to Jordan, no one was allowed to revisit Palestine even though they were registered officially with the United Nations as Palestinian Refugees.”

“My grandfather from my father’s side used to own a big land, more than 500 acres, and Israel took it. No one from my family can even visit the land,” Alalamat said. “Many of my tribe are still refugees in Gaza. They have been living miserably in refugee camps since 1948. They are now targeted and pushed south in Gaza to force them to be refugees again in Egypt, which is another Nakbah/Catastrophe.”

The events have affected his family by feeling sorry for the killing of innocent people in hospitals and schools, Alalamat said. Children have been killed in Gaza in front of the eyes of the civilized world, and they are disappointed in not stopping the war crimes and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, Alalamat said.

From Oct. 7 to Nov. 13, at least 4,609 children had been killed in Gaza and 6,571 adults were also killed, according to information from the Gaza Health Ministry reported in The Washington Post and other media outlets. 

“We are here advocating against the 75 years of genocide,” Andrea Tennison, a protestor, said. “We see Palestinian people as a whole and not associated with Hamas,” Tennison said.

“If you are not being educated on what is happening, then that is just out of ignorance. It is a privilege to look away,” Tennison said.

“The world is finally awake,” Sarah Curnayn, a protester, said. When more people see the protests, it shows support and helps keep people informed, Curnayn said.

“Free Free Palestine,” was shouted by 20 -30 protesters standing at the 4-way intersection with signs that said “Ceasefire now, Save Lives” and “Honk if you support ceasefire #show Humanity is not dead #End all Violence now”. Cars honked at the protesters. A few drivers rolled down their windows to encourage the protesters, and some thanked them for protesting.

“Save Gaza, Save Humanity,” according to the post on Facebook by Arkansas Antiwar Alliance. “We call for a ceasefire now… Let us stand for Humanity, Truth, Justice, Peace, Equality, Freedom, and Non-Violence.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and taking dozens as hostages. Israel declared war on the group in response, according to cfr.org.

Hamas is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (translated to Islamic Resistance Movement) and was founded by a Palestinian cleric named Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in the late 1960’s, according to crf.org. The United States has declared Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and also listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists since October 2001, according to http://www.collins.senate.gov.