Palestinian Americans in South Florida worry about civilians in Gaza
MIAMI —Two Palestinian Americans who used to live in the West Bank in Israel say they are worried about civilians in Gaza as the war in Israel rages and they hope solutions can be found.
Anas Amireh is from Coral Springs and has friends in the West Bank.
"We are disgusted by what is going on that we keep going back to this. Civilians on both sides are going to lose their lives and this is ridiculous and this needs to stop once and for all," he told CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench. "Innocent people are losing their lives, innocent babies and moms and husbands and working people."
"I am worried about our community and everyone in the world is worrying about what will happen and we do not want another nechma to happen where Palestinians are drawn out of the country again," he said.
"To begin with, solutions require human rights for both people and all people on land, Jews, Christians and Muslims, and an end to occupation and an end to the siege once and for all," Amireh continued.
Jay Shehadeh is a Coral Gables attorney and a Palestinian American who started United Palestinian Appeal, which provides humanitarian relief for Palestinian refugees and help for Gaza.
"It's incredible the level of pain that we are seeing with people dying in Gaza," he said. "I am discouraged on the world stage on the values placed on Israeli lives versus Palestinian lives. All life is equally valuable."
"You have 2.2 million people living in a tiny geographical area. Israel needs to understand that the conditions in Gaza were imposed by Israel," Shehadeh added "The solutions are simple and it will take time based on equality. All people need to be treated equally and people in Gaza should be allowed to live in dignity."
Shehadeh said two of his sisters and their children are currently living in the West Bank.