DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — It has now been nearly a month since the Hamas attack in Israel that's causing a ripple in the Middle East and beyond. Metro Detroit is a unique hub of the Palestinian and Israeli communities, and both continue sharing their grief.
On Friday, two buses stopped by the Arab American National Museum to pick up metro Detroiters and make the nearly nine hour drive to Washington D.C. They're heading to a march at Freedom Plaza on Saturday, where thousands are expected to be in attendance.
Anees Aquel helped organize the trip with his organization Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids. He says it was important to him for Michigan to have a presence in our nation's Capital as they call for an end to the conflict with Israel and freedom for Palestine.
About 115 people left from Dearborn, but he says other buses took off from other Michigan cities including Ann Arbor. His parents were born in Palestine and he still has family in the war-torn region — family he knows is not safe.
“You’re in a world that doesn’t stop over here on this side of the world," Aquel said. "And... you’re watching your family, your cousins, people get torn apart. You’re watching your own blood fall.”
Just this week, the House approved $14.3 billion to aid Israel in the conflict. It's something Aquel says they're planning to protest when they march at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“It feels like the knife that we’ve already been stabbed with is twisted," Aquel said.
Meanwhile in Ann Arbor on the University of Michigan campus, there was a gathering calling for an end to anti-Semitism and supporting the Israeli people.
“Our pain and grief have been compounded by an onslaught of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel threats in your backyards and around the world," chair of the board of directors with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Betsy Berns Korn said in Ann Arbor.
Daniella Ludmir is a student at Michigan who decided to attend Friday and spread the message of someone who isn’t able to do it themselves. A relative of hers was killed on Oct. 7 in Israel when Hamas attacked. He was a doctor, treating the wounded.
"He didn’t even hesitate. He went in to help people that have been hurt in the terrorist attack, leaving behind his kids and his wife in the bomb shelter in safety," Ludmir said. "Terrorists went into the clinic and killed everybody in there including him.”
Both sides are heartbroken and grieving the loss of life and the violence that has no clear end in sight.
