While civilian casualties continue to increase in Israel, Gaza, and Iran, protesters gathered at Court Square in Harrisonburg on Saturday to demand government action toward peaceful resolution of both conflicts. That protest happened just hours before President Trump ordered U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. WMRA’s Meredith McCool reports.
[Call and response singing, “Cease fire now.”]
As the mercury rose toward 90 degrees Saturday afternoon, around 60 protesters clustered in a shady patch in front of the Rockingham County Courthouse. The “Stop the Wars on Iran and Gaza!” protest, organized by Peace Praxis, was a family affair. Moms packed snacks and bubbles, along with extra keffiyehs, for sharing.
McCOOL: Can you tell me a little bit about your scarf?
SARA ZUHOUR: This is called the keffiyeh. It’s a traditional thing in Palestine, like scarf from Palestine. A lot of people wear it.
Sara Zuhour, a young Palestinian American, addressed the gathered crowd.
ZUHOUR: We want everyone to be kind to each other. We want everyone to have a home, food, and place to learn and play. We want peace for all kids everywhere. Let's use our voices to say, let's stop hurting each other. Let's help each other. Let's make the world a better place for all children.
Michael Snell-Feikema, with Peace Praxis, helped organize the event to address two different issues that he sees as connected.
MICHAEL SNELL-FEIKEMA: We're partly doing it because one of the impacts … is to distract attention from the intensified ethnic cleansing and genocide going on in Gaza, and we didn't want to feed into that by just focusing on Iran.
[Call and response singing, “No war on Iran.”]
Late Saturday evening, President Trump addressed the nation from the White House to announce that the U.S. military had joined with Israel to launch military strikes against Iran, targeting three nuclear sites. As of this writing, the president has not sought congressional authorization for military action against Iran.
