LANSING, Mich. — It’s been over 80 days since the war between Israel and Hamas started, a war that has changed everything in the region.
“Gaza is gone, there’s nothing left,” said Lansing resident Kyle Richard. “The culture is gone, everything is gone.”
Richard said the empathy and pain he feels for people of Palestine run deep, which is why he's pushing for Lansing city council to support a ceasefire resolution.
“Stop shooting, stop bombing, so we could move forward to diplomatic solutions,” Richard said.
Detroit’s city council recently passed a ceasefire resolution, demanding hostages be released. Richard wants Lansing’s to look similar. But, like so much about this war, not everyone agrees.
“The problem is a ceasefire doesn’t actually end the violence among Israel and Jewish people,” Rabbi Mark Miller said.
Miller out of is a supporter of the Israeli side of the war, and said a ceasefire may put a bandaid on the issue, but not solve it.
“Hamas has been very clear that when this ends, they're going to do it again and they're going to see doing it until every Jew is gone,” Miller said. “A ceasefire basically means that Israel cannot protect themselves.”
While there are different viewpoints, the end goal for both sides seem to be the same.
“What we want is to simply live in peace with our neighbors,” Miller said.
