LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Palestinian flag posted to the door of Haraz on Fourth Street signals the Yemeni franchise's solidarity with a global call for the fighting in Gaza to stop.
Local owner Amer Almassudi supports it because of the tragedies Gazans face.
"Just imagine," he said. "You being at home and your family just being gunned down right in front of you. Or your building that you're standing in right now while me and you are talking just being bombed."
Images of dead children and decimated buildings show up on his social media feeds. "It's mind boggling to even look at. Sometimes, it's taking away from my sleep," Almassudi said.
The horror, a reflection of the civilian massacre perpetrated by Hamas in the October 7 attack that spawned the Israel-Hamas war currently unfolding across the globe.
"We stand with Gaza and we're here for the people. And even the people of Israel, there's nothing that needs to be harmed with any children nationwide," Almassudi said.
The strike comes after U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood defended America's sole veto blocking a U.N. resolution for a ceasefire, saying a pause in warfare would allow Hamas's rule to continue. "We do not support this resolution's call for an unsustainable ceasefire that will only plant the seeds for the next war," he said.
UofL Chair of Judaic Studies, Dr. Ranen Omer-Sherman, a current Israeli citizen and former Israeli soldier, said the root of the conflict lies elsewhere—trapped in a vicious cycle of violence dating back to 1948 when 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced as Israel established their state with violent resistance from the Arab world.
"Each side has so recklessly dehumanized the other," he said, "and in the process of dehumanizing the other, dehumanize themselves."
In recent days, Israel declared they're ready to continue fighting for months. The U.S. ambassador, Wood, maintained the country's right to defend itself.
According to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health, it's a course that's come at the cost of over 17,000 Palestinian lives since October.
"Even in a very bloody warzone there's room for empathy and for humanity and looking at the conflict from abroad," Dr. Omer-Sherman said. It's a lesson the professor tries to teach his students as they study Israeli and Palestinian literature side-by-side.
Almasuddi says his support for a ceasefire is about just that—showing humanity for all life. "We need to live in peace and harmony and try and love one another as we are meant to be," the coffee shop owner said.
Tomorrow, their doors open again. Meanwhile, Almasuddi's left kindling hope for a brighter future while bombs fall overseas.
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