On October 7th, the militant group Hamas, based in Palestine, initiated an assault on Israeli territory, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives and the abduction of over 100 individuals. On October 13th, Palestinians from around the world came together to participate in the “International Day of Action for Palestine.” In New York City, thousands of Palestinians were joined by various groups, including Americans for Palestine and Jews for Palestine, among others.
To Palestinians, this attack was perceived as a defensive response to what they regard as ‘atrocities from Israel’ during these seven and a half decades. An elderly Palestinian shared, ‘For those of you unfamiliar with our history, it is a very confusing situation. Many may not even know that Israel was established 75 years ago, displacing Palestinians into the confines of Gaza, which constitutes a very small part of what Palestine was.’