November 28, 2023
By Rachel Scofield

On November 20, the group Pickerington for Palestine, led a march from Pickerington High School Central to Porter’s Coffee House and Bakery in downtown Pickerington.

The group issued the following statement, “Pickerington for Palestine’s goal is to bring awareness to the greater Pickerington area of the ongoing massacres in Gaza. We are against the killings of bare-handed civilians with powerful military weapons because they deserve to live peacefully just like citizens of any other country. We want to encourage Pickerington residents to stand with the children of Palestine just as they would for any other suffering child.”

Per the Al Jazeera news, “Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, including 10,000 women and children, in over 50 days, making it the deadliest war for the besieged Palestinian enclave to date.”

The article goes on to provide a comprehensive history of the conflict beginning in 1917 when the British conquered Palestine and pledged to establish a national territory for Jewish people. Israel became a country in 1948.

Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip is in retaliation to Hamas’ surprise assault of southern Israel on October 7. Hundreds of Hamas gunmen breached the heavily-guarded perimeter fence between Gaza and Israel and killed 1,200 people (mostly civilians) and took 240 hostage, per BBC News.

On November 24, Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce to exchange hostages and prisoners. It also allowed for emergency aid to enter Gaza per Reuters.

To learn more about Pickerington for Palestine, you can visit the group’s Instagram page.