Israel-Hamas War

Nearly 2,000 rally to support Israel in downtown San Diego

NBC Universal, Inc.

On Sunday, nearly 2,000 Israeli supporters gathered in front of the San Diego County building to stand in unity and call for an end to terror.

The event was organized by Stand with Us San Diego where hundreds of San Diegans turned out to support Israeli people caught in the war.

It comes three weeks after the Hamas attacks against Israel.

β€œToday, we stand together as a community grappling with the events in Israel,” a speaker said.

Isaac Abadi was in Israel that day during the initial attack with his wife and four kids. He described it as a traumatic experience they will never forget.

"We were so scared for our lives, like that the terrorist could come into our house and take any of our kids so it was something very, very frightening, we didn't know how it could have stopped, we didn't know how it was coming, where it was coming from and what was going to happen next,” Abadi said.

Abadi and his family attended the rally to stand in solidarity with the Israeli community he said is still hurting.

The sentiment was echoed by others like Yanine Simpser.

"We are sad, we are devastated, we are angry, we are frustrated, we are hopeful that this ends soon and that we all can stand against terrorism,” Simpser said.

County officials, different faith leaders, and other community members were also in attendance.

"We are in a situation where we need to make sure that every community, particularly Palestinians and Israelis are able to have basic human rights and are treated well,” Chairwoman Nora Vargas with San Diego County said.

β€œThis is the healing that we all need right now at this moment,” Stephanie Nisan, board member of Stand With Us said.

β€œAt the end of the day, love is always stronger than hate,” Abadi said.

No counter-protesters were present at the event.

Editor's note: This article was originally published with an incorrect headline indicating that this rally was pro-Palestinian. NBC 7 regrets the error and this has been corrected.

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