Save Sheikh Jarrah

    In a neighborhood in Palestine called Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinians are being forcibly evicted from their homes that they have been living in for generations. Israeli settlers have been evicting Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah in an effort to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem from Palestinians. Over 500 Palestinian families in occupied Jerusalem face the risk of being removed from their homes. 

    While Palestinians went to Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, to pray in celebration of the end of the fasting period Ramadan, as well as to peacefully protest the ethnic cleansing, Israeli forces their unleashed tear gas, steel bullets, and sand grenades, injuring and killing many civilians. 

    Between Palestinian rocket fires and Israeli airstrikes, violence in Gaza enters its fifth day, the worst it has been since 2014. At least 122 people have been killed in Gaza and eight have died in Israel since the fighting began on Monday. In response, protests emerge in Morocco, London, Sudan, South Africa, Jordan, Lebanon, as well as major cities all over the US, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, demanding freedom for Palestine under Israeli occupation. 

    It is important to acknowledge that, despite the complexities of this "conflict," Palestinians have been fighting for their liberation and are now entering their 54th year under this apartheid. We must not turn a blind eye to the innocent people of Sheikh Jarrah and be allies with them instead. It is equally as important to acknowledge that innocent Israeli citizens are never to blame for the wrongdoings of their governments. This is not a religious or political issue, but a human rights issue.