Editor:
Coinciding with global protests against the Israel-Palestinian conflict, concerned citizen Kawiria Creed organized a couple local events to help raise awareness, and it is spurring us to do more. It’s about educating about the crisis and advocating for peace. It is all too easy to look away from the horrors being committed, and think we can’t make a difference.
We encourage peace advocates to join us, and for those who are still undecided, we’re only asking that they begin down the path of caring and learning about these issues. It takes courage to feel into the emotions and discomfort associated with that path, and let the love for peace well up inside you.
The two days we held protests so far, it felt like more than half of the vehicles that drove by gave a honk or thumbs up of endorsement
Beyond the sign-waving, we talk and share our concerns, experiences, and knowledge of the crisis. We play protest music that adds layers of context and information to our activism. We feel a lot of solidarity with each other and the world, even if there is only a few of us locally. World courts, human rights organizations, academic consensus, and mass publics all agree that a genocide is taking place against the Palestinian people, of which there is already over 30,000 killed and currently nearly two million terrified refugees at risk. Furthermore, those organizations and demonstrations also understand the deep history of these struggles, that lead to the present day. These details often get lost in heated debates, so the horrific situation continues.
Peace is not only possible, its necessary and inevitable. And it is very important we work hard to learn and band together, to bring war to an end. Words like apartheid, colonialism, occupation, oppression, and genocide can seem like frightening and loaded terms, but they have a vital place in the conversation.
Brent Cooper
Clearwater