Around a hundred people attended a teach-in at a Los Gatos coffee shop Saturday, looking to learn more about the Palestinian people and what they’re experiencing.
“We want people to understand that this is a political crisis and a humanitarian crisis,” said Santa Clara resident Rami Sultan. “And I want to raise the level of understanding and discourse to humanize Palestinians, including my family. To make people understand that the lives of Palesetinians are equal to the lives of Israelis.”
The event also offered people a chance to lean on each other as they worried about loved ons in Gaza.
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Naiema Dean told NBC Bay Area her husband’s relatives lost everything in a missile attack.
“My husband has family in Gaza,” she said. “He has an aunt, and cousins, and nephews and nieces. And they’ve lost their home. So their homes have been bombed. Their business has been bombed. So they’re essentially homeless now. And they’re moving between shelters trying to find safety. “
People also gathered in Berkeley on the same day, for another educational event focused on both the Palestinian people and to learn more about the Hamas militant group that had attacked Israel two weeks before.
“Hamas is not a liberatory agency,” said Joel Beinin, a Stanford professor of Middle East History. “Hamas is, besides its armed units, a political party, a social movement with extremely regressive ideology. They are misogynist, anti-queer.”
Israel has announced it plans to increase strikes in Gaza, and have told more people to flee south.
“Israel is doing what it has to to protect its citizens. That doesn’t take away the tragedy of Palestinian citizens who are dying in this conflict as well. But the blame rests squarely on Hamas, who has really created this situation.”
For now, people are trying to learn more about the conflict and continue to call for a cease-fire.
