The threat of a possible Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon on Sunday spurred almost 60 people from Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW) into action. The group held what it called an “emergency action march for Lebanon” in downtown Kalamazoo.
Said Abubakr is one of the group’s organizers. He said the escalation of the war on Lebanon’s border with Israel was the focus of this week’s action.
“We have seen 360 days of destruction in Gaza. We are [scared] to death that the same thing is going to happened in Beirut.”
Abubakr added that “Beirut used to be the Switzerland of the Middle East. Beirut is [a] very beautiful town. Beirut has very beautiful people. And as we saw what happened in Gaza, we're afraid the same thing will happen in Beirut.”
Maliha Raza Khan is also a member of KNOW. She spoke to the crowd in front of Kalamazoo’s Federal Building on Michigan Ave.
Khan told the crowd that “war is a failure of leadership, a choice to destroy rather than to build.”
Interviewed after her speech, Khan explained that she came to that realization growing up in India, where she witnessed oppression and injustice.
She explained that as members of KNOW, “we believe that if you choose to go to war, that means that you've exhausted all other avenues for peace.”
“I don't think that has happened yet,” she added about the conflict in the Mideast. “We have not exhausted it. There is still an opportunity for peace and dialogue.”
KNOW has held weekly peace protests since 2002. They take place Sunday at noon in front of the Federal Building.
