My name is Layali Hisham Mutan, I am a Palestinian Arab Muslim-American teenager.

Recently Muslims have finished the holy month of Ramadan, a month where you don’t eat or drink from dusk till dawn as a cleanse for the heart, mind and soul. You would think this would be a peaceful time for Muslims, right? Well, that’s not the case in Palestine. Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims which has long been an emblem of Palestinian resistance, has been bombed, the last Friday of Ramadan, a sacred day to Muslims killing at least 65 people 14 of them being children.

After the prayer Palestinians began to peacefully protest by raising both Palestinian, and Hamas flags. Israeli forces responded to this protest by using tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets and fired at the worshippers. This caused hundreds of Palestinians to be hospitalized.

In an attempt to protest, Israeli forces are currently trying to force Palestinians out of their homes in East Jerusalem in a neighborhood called Sheik Jarrah that they have occupied for decades, over 200 Palestinians are at risk of losing their homes; the latest evictions come from a 73-year old military occupation against Palestinians.

As if all of this is not enough a bomb has been dropped approximately 200 meters (656 feet) from an Indonesian hospital causing the buildings to rattle, and the ceiling to collapse. Reporters say no one was killed or injured, but this left many patients traumatized.

They did not just stop at a holy place of worship, they are bombing a medical care facility making sure the Palestinians have nowhere to be treated and left to die. Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians causing mothers to lose their children, and children being left with no family. I have barely even begun to explain the inhumane events that have occurred and cannot ever be able to put into words the trauma these people have been put through.

If you did not know, America funds $3.3 billion a year to Israel. We are practically sitting back and watching innocent lives being taken and for what? Put yourself into these people’s shoes being helpless as you are being thrown out of the house you have grown up in, the house that has been in your family’s name for generations.

You protest for your own human rights and watch people around you being killed. Please help spread awareness and be part of the change, we don’t need to watch any more innocent blood being shed.

Sources of information:
https://time.com/6047465/israel-gaza-jerusalem-protests/
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1858701/middle-east
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/israel/palestine
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-aqsa-attacks-how-violence-unfolded
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/indonesian-hospital-in-gaza-suffers-damage-by-israeli-
attack/2238936