SEATTLE — Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Seattle Saturday afternoon for a pro-Palestinian march.
Demonstrators say they gathered to honor and remember those who have been killed in the war in the Middle East and for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
The Israel-Hamas war began one year ago on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Bare minimum is a cease-fire, but we would also like an arms embargo enforced by VP Kamala Harris and President Biden," Ahman Hamdan said. He is part of the Palestinian Youth Movement.
For him, this cause hits very close to home.
“The reason I’m here today, the reason my family is here today in the United States is because we were displaced. My grandparents were kicked out of their home in 1967," he said. Demonstrators marched along Alaskan Way in Seattle holding up red signs with photos and names of some of the people killed in the war.
Other signs honored Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a University of Washington graduate who was killed during a protest in the West Bank in early September.
“My Palestinian brothers and sisters have been murdered since I was born. I was born Palestinian, I have dealt with this my entire life," he said. Hamdan says he still has family living in the West Bank.
“They are as good as you can be, struggling," he said. " “No matter what we do it affects the people in Palestine.”