Last month, civic engagement storyteller Xavier Boone attended a rally in Washington D.C., which was calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that has been ongoing for over two months in Gaza.
But there’s still no promise of an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
The U.S. reportedly vetoed a United Nations resolution that demanded an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”; the vote in the 15-member council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining and Japan and France were among those who supported the resolution.
Recent reports say at least 17,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. In Israel, the death toll is around 1,147.
At Columbus Circle in New York on Dec. 7, the first night of Hanukkah–an eight-day Jewish celebration also known as the “Festival of Lights”–hundreds gathered to light the first candle, and also make another demand for an immediate end to the war; the menorah donned the word “ceasefire” in illuminated lights.
Back in Washington D.C., Boone described the rally as a “clash of emotions.” Here’s what the scene was like at the nation’s capital.
