BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The Muslim Public Affairs Council-Western New York, Jewish Voice for Peace-Buffalo and many other organizations came together in Niagara Square Saturday to join in a global call for a ceasefire.
“Looking at this sea of people, of all colors, of all shades, of all ethnicities, of all religions. That’s a measurement of our success and we hope that our leaders will listen to the voice of the people,” said Khalid Qazi, president of Muslim Public Affairs Council-WNY.
According to CBS News, the Israel-Hamas war has left over 10,000 dead in Gaza and displaced 70 percent of its population in a month alone. That is a number local residents from both the Jewish and Muslim communities don’t want to see grow.
“We want people to know in Buffalo that there’s a huge community, a community that is united across lines of faith, that believe we need to have an immediate ceasefire, to the killing, to the death,” added Jewish Voice for Peace-Buffalo member Derek Seidman.
“As a Muslim, as a Jew, as a Christian, we all love peace and we’re looking for peace. We must look to our administration to call for a ceasefire now,” one rally participant said.
Saturday’s rally was filled with signs displaying slogans like ‘Let Gaza live,’ ‘Stop killing children’ and multiple others calling for a cease to violence and the supply of vital necessities to civilians caught in the crossfire.
“Lives are too valuable and too precious. There are ramifications that happen when we allow this to continue to go on,” said Mark Blue, president of the Buffalo NAACP.
“There is no military solution to our horror; in the face of this terrifying violence, we say no. Our tradition is a tree of life. Life, not death, are supposed to be its fruits. We are pleading with our communities to rise through our despair and our grief to save lives,” concluded another neighbor at the gathering.
The ceasefire rally finished with a call for prayer and peace for all of those in attendance, followed by a march down Niagara Street and South Elmwood Avenue.
Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.
