Vegas Gaza rallies: Same place, different messages

Las Vegas community leaders and activists will gather at the federal courthouse Sunday afternoon to protest the conflict in Gaza together, but its two main organizers don’t see eye to eye.

Two different rallies seeking peace in the Middle East were originally planned, but after collaborating for resources, their organizers announced it as a joint protest. Yet the day before the newly combined rally, both event organizers hedged a bit.

“We believe the message is a little different in both,” UNLV student Samantha Haikal said.

Haikal invited people to gather outside the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to protest Israel’s actions toward the Palestinian people, she said.

Angie Morelli of Peacemakers Vegas invited the community to participate in a 7:30 p.m. candlelight vigil honoring each victim killed in the conflict — both Israeli and Palestinian.

Though each event was planned separately, Morelli said she reached out to Haikal to combine the events. They were scheduled to be at the same location at different times, and since Morelli said her protest’s goal was to stop the fighting on either side and cease U.S. military funding to the conflict, she said it made sense to combine resources.

But Haikal said she felt differently. Though the two teams are working together to host the events — sharing candles and planning resources — Haikal said the rallies are not combined.

“We both agreed we’d probably be a little separate,” Haikal said. “Everyone is on the same page.”

The first rally will feature 13 abbinical speakers, all of whom are being flown her from New York, as well as a handful of other leaders from different religious groups, Haikal said.

The second event, a candlelight vigil honoring all those who have been killed in the conflict so far, will set ablaze about 1,700 candles and feature a large light projection on U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s office stating, “Fund Peace, Not War.”

The rallies will be the most recent in a handful of valley events focusing on the Gaza conflict this summer — a few supportive of the Palestinians and a few supportive of the Israelis.

Haikal and Morelli said activists can decide for themselves if they’d like to stay for both events.

“It’s a cloudy thing,” Morelli said. “I really wanted to work together on this. That’s the whole point — at the very least we can plan a rally together. I think it’s going to be really interesting.”

The rallies come a day after Israel’s military declared 23-year-old Hadar Goldin of the Givati infantry brigade had been killed in battle Friday. Goldin was previously believed to be captured by Hamas gunmen, shattering a temporary ceasefire.

Though Israel announced plans to scale back its military operation in Gaza Saturday, the country refused to negotiate a cease-fire with Hamas in Cairo. Should Israel unilaterally pull out, Hamas said it will not hold its fire, raising the possibility of renewed hostilities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby.