Palestinians in Kansas City call for peace, worry over loved ones in Gaza: 'We are terrified'

Hundreds of Kansas City residents, many of whom are part of the local Palestinian community, gathered Saturday in support of Palestine and to demand an end to the Israeli occupation.
For Feras Elghussein, a Palestinian-American who lives in Kansas City, the past week has been terrifying.

“Every phone call we get, every text message, every time our phones ring with an alarm, we are terrified that that's the call from our family overseas, telling us that our family no longer exists,” he said.

Elghussein, who was born in the Gaza Strip, has already lost family members as a result of the violence: his second cousin, her husband and their four children were killed.

“On my mother's side, my family had to vacate their homes and now they don't know what is the state of their home,” he said.

Elghussein joined hundreds of Kansas City residents Saturday afternoon at Mill Creek Park to support Palestine and to call for the end to the Israeli occupation and the violence against Palestinian civilians.