ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, leading to the release of hostages and prisoners. Local groups view this as a potential sign for peace in the Middle East.
“I am experiencing some level of relief, some level of joy, but there’s a lot of frustration to witnessing what has been done, what has been allowed to be done in Gaza,” said Miller Gentry-Sharpe, a student advocate with Jewish Voice for Peace, University of Rochester chapter.
While Gentry-Sharpe says he’s glad to see hostages return to their families, they are frustrated with the time it took to reach this point and concerned about the future for Palestinians.
“We’ve seen so much horror in Gaza over the last two years. The murder of over 68,000 people and the decimation of entire cities and villages and really an entire people,” continued Gentry-Sharpe. “While I understand that there’s so much that needs to be done for a true, lasting peace to be established, just the idea that children in Gaza can wake up tomorrow not wondering if today will be their last, I think is everything.”
Erin Hess, another student, expressed her belief in a one-state solution and equal rights for all. “I am absolutely not satisfied until Palestinian people get the right to govern themselves and full self-determination,” Hess said.
“Until the unlawful occupation of both Gaza and the West Bank is ended and until the apartheid laws that govern Israel are repealed, there this is not a permanent solution,” said Gentry-Sharpe.
Jewish Voice for Peace plans a hunger strike on the University of Rochester campus on Wednesday, calling for the school to divest from Israel.
Meanwhile, the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester held a community gathering to honor the hostages and their families.
“Being with kids my age in Israel, you know, living with them for weeks, you get to experience their side of it and see how they, you know, think of the war and think of the hostages,” said Etai Dragon, a local teen born in Israel.
The future of Palestine as an independent state remains uncertain.
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