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Kansas Citians react to Gaza ceasefire: 'How do you reckon with 15 months of grief?'

Children hold signs in the air calling for a ceasefire
Savannah Hawley-Bates
/
KCUR 89.3
About 500 people attended a March 2024 rally calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as part of a global day of action for Palestine. Many children attended and created signs with their parents.

As Israel and Hamas enter into a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, members of Kansas City's Jewish and Palestinian communities reflect on what a chance for peace means after more than a year of bloodshed.

It is not yet clear if the three-phase ceasefire agreement signed by Israel and Hamas last week will hold. So far, the first Israeli hostages have been released as part of the deal, while many Palestinians have begun to return to their homes in northern Gaza.

But lasting peace is far from certain. Israel's military has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, while hundreds of Israeli soldiers have died in the war. Gaza will likely take decades and billions of dollars to rebuild.

In Kansas City, Palestinian Americans feel mixed emotions. Maha Odah, a local activist with family in Gaza, says her relief that the bombs had stopped was quickly overshadowed by anguish.

"(Relief) was followed so quickly by such overwhelming grief and devastation and anguish and so, so much shame," Odah says. "How do you reckon with 15 months of grief all at once?"

Local rabbi Doug Alpert has spoken out about what he sees as "senseless destruction" in Gaza. He says there is growing disagreement within the Jewish community about Israel and Palestine, and something clearly needs to change.

"What we can do going forward is to understand that what we have been doing, and what keeps recycling in waves of violent encounters, is not working," Alpert says. "I know others are out there — Jews and Palestinians, Muslim Americans, Arab Americans — who are committed to the same ideal."

Dr. Majdi Hamarshi is a local doctor whose organization, the Palestinian American Medical Association, has worked to deliver medical aid to Gaza. But they've been mostly denied access for several months, and had to work at limited capacity.

"I was delighted. We all wanted that relief to Gaza," Hamarshi says. "We are prepared to increase our supplies and increase the number of medical doctors who can go to Gaza."

Neta Meltzer, with the Jewish Community Relations Bureau of Kansas City, acknowledges this conflict has created rifts both within her community and between the local Jewish and Muslim communities. She hopes a ceasefire provides an opportunity to begin reconciliation.

"Ultimately, we will have no choice. We have to work together. We have to find a path forward," Meltzer says.

For Palestinian Americans like Odah, a ceasefire presents a chance to reunite with loved ones.

"There's so much work to be done, but I'm really determined and dedicated to be able to just hug my family again," she says.

  • Maha Odah, Palestinian American activist and organizer
  • Doug Alpert, Congregation Kol Ami rabbi
  • Dr. Majdi Hamarshi, Palestinian American Medical Association co-founder
  • Neta Meltzer, Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau interim director
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When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As the 2024-2025 Up to Date intern, I am passionate about finding diverse stories that allow public radio to serve as a platform for people in our area to share what matters to them. I grew up in the Kansas City metro, graduated from the University of Arkansas, and have previously worked as a producer for KUAF, Northwest Arkansas' NPR affiliate station. Email me at jmarvine@kcur.org.
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