Protesters supporting Israel challenge pro-Palestinian rally in Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE - Emotions were really charged when pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters clashed at Cambridge City Hall.
Hundreds of people had gathered in support of Palestinian people caught in the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, but pro-Israel protesters challenged the demonstration.
The rally and march on Monday was organized by Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine. Students, community members and minority leaders showed up in solidarity.
The tensions on opposite sides of a Cambridge street reflected the decades long, deep-seeded conflict between Israel and Palestine.
It spelled out into police holding people back, and shouting matches, as dueling protesters came face to face, days after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel.
Police had to keep the peace, though there were some near scuffles. The hundreds who marched, waving Palestinian flags, called for an end to Israel's occupation in Palestinian Territories, "saying long live the Palestinian resistance."
Palestinian protesters like Dina Al Khatib say she condemns the killing of innocent civilians on all sides. But she's fighting to see freedom and equality for her people who've been living in displacement since 1948.
"To fight for peace and stop the blood," said Al Khatib. "We want to go back to our lands, but they are accusing us that we are terrorists, they started killing us and they're still killing people there."
On the other side, pro-Israel protesters challenged the Palestinian demonstration, carrying signs in solidarity with Israel and pictures of families killed in the surprise attacks.
"This is propaganda, they spread lies, they try to justify their actions," said Tzvi Shapiro who's family lives in Israel.
They say nothing can justify the atrocities Hamas carried out on innocent civilians. "But do they support rape? Do they support murder can they say they condemn those deeds?" asked one pro-Israeli protester.
No one knows what the way forward will look like and if there will ever be a solution, but a vast majority of people on both sides do not want to see any more bloodshed.
