LOUISVILLE, Ky. — To understand the recent attacks between Israel and Palestine, Palestinian women living in Louisville say we need to look back to 1948.
That's the year of the Arab-Israeli war, when the state of Israel declared its independence in land formerly occupied by Palestine.
"My family and hundreds of other families were evicted in 1948," said Danya Talib, member of the University of Louisville chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Fast forward to today and Nurhan Kaisi, who lived in what she calls occupied Palestine land, witnessed heavy military presence in her family’s community. “I have to go through a checkpoint to visit a mosque in my own city, I have to show proof of ID, you would see soldiers circling around my grandparent's neighborhood. And they would go in and interrogate my uncles. It’s not a type of living that you want to endure for 73 years.”
These women share their stories, not to justify current attacks from extremists or the state of Israel but to provide context.
“Not necessarily are we victims but we have been victims of war crimes and atrocities that people shouldn’t have to go to,” said Afnan Ismail.
Today, violence continues to impact both Israelis and Palestinians. The Louisville Students for Justice in Palestine will meet near the Great Lawn at 4 p.m. on Sunday to march in Louisville.
Meanwhile, Matt Goldberg from the Jewish Federation of Louisville says fighting on both sides needs to stop.“The actual physical fighting, the Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians, everyone wants it to stop and wants it to end,” said Goldberg.
These countries on the brink of war, sharing generations of trauma connecting to children and grandchildren here in Louisville.
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