SUNRISE, Fla. – There has been a strong message in South Florida and around the world that people are standing with Israel, but Palestinians who are not involved in the hostilities are also being killed and maimed.
Wilfred Ruiz with the Council on American Islamic Relations drew a hard line in the sand between Hamas and the people of Palestine.
“Some people say, ‘Here (is) someone defending Hamas.’ We are not defending Hamas. We are talking for the rights of 6-7 million Palestinians,” said Ruiz.
Ruiz called this a humanitarian nightmare for the millions of Palestinians who are under military occupation, drawing focus to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which he calls an open air prison.
“That opens opportunity to this opportunist groups that if you study political science, what happens when people live under these conditions,” Ruiz said. “It opens doors for opportunists.”
Ruiz went on to say militant groups like Hamas are painting Palestinians with a wide brush and that is simply unfair and unjust
As Ruiz said, Palestinians have been and continue to fight for their basic rights to freedom, referencing Hamas’ attacks on Israel only working against that plight.
“In a land where there are two judicial systems, one for the Israelis and one for the people who are occupied, so the millions of Palestinians — that perpetuates a lot of injustices that go from generation to generation,” he said.