In downtown San Francisco Wednesday, we asked residents how the ongoing crisis between Israel and the Palestinians has been affecting their lives.
“It is affecting my life since my family is over there. And it's horrified and we need to put an end to it. I came here four years ago. I've been relocated from Israel here to the Bay Area. But my family and my friends are in Israel. My name is Oded. The meaning is to cheer you up. So, I hope this will come, uh, for us as well."
A woman who lives in San Francisco but asked not to be identified shared her feelings.
“It brings dread and incredible deep sadness that I have to actively ignore so that I can get through the day to day.”
Karen Topakian of San Francisco had this to say.
“It hasn't affected my life personally and individually, but what it's affected is one more place of huge human crisis and humanitarian crisis and a place where, um, war continues in a way without end.
So it can provide me, can offer me a sense of hopelessness. Until I read about opportunities and places where Palestinians and Israelis are working together, and then I can find hope.”
Olajuwon Mitchell, a shoe shiner on Market street shared his thoughts.
“The impact it has is to remind people there's evil in this world. That's what it's letting people know. So anybody with humanity will know what it is, so it’s got to affect everybody. But some people don't care. But most people, it affects them.”
