Local reaction to unrest in Middle East
By: Heather Sawaski
Updated: November 19, 2012
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - At least 100 Palestinians and three Israelis have died since the violence on the Gaza Strip erupted last Wednesday.
"I wasn't very surprised," Heba Mohammad said. "but disappointed and kind of scared at the same time."
Mohammad is a third year student at UWGB. She has a personal connection to the Gaza Strip. Her parents emigrated from Palestine in the 1980's. She still has family in west bank and has been monitoring the latest attacks very closely.
"I call my mom on a regular basis," explained Mohammad. "She has Al Jazeera on satellite that comes into our home and so she's been trying to keep up with it. I've been trying to keep up with it via social media, twitter, breaking news tweets and things like that."
Proudly displaying a Palestinian flag on her backpack Monday, Mohammad said she's hopeful national bodies will step in and ask Israel to cease fire.
Mohammad spent three months last summer touring West Bank and Jordan with her parents, and she's come to respect and appreciate the land her relatives call home.
"Just sort of the culture there and what people think politically and how things have constantly been on edge," she added. "Just sort of waiting to erupt in the way it has right now."
Mohammad wants people to know the conflict can be resolved. She sees it as a modern problem that requires modern solutions, one of them being some sort of U.S. intervention.
