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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Local Muslims pray for Mid-East peace

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — As the bloody body count continues to rise in the Middle East, locals with ties to the region are praying for a peaceful end to the conflict.
"It is heartbreaking for everyone," South Brunswick resident Hanan Shaban, 40, said this week."
Ms. Shaban was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but said she did live in the West Bank during a couple of her teen years from 1985-87.
"I don’t know how many lives will be lost before the world takes action," she said.
Ms. Shaban said that conditions in Ghaza are more like an open-air prison than a settlement and that there is no where to go when Israeli missiles start raining down.
"It is so crowded," she said. "When one missile goes down, everyone is effected."
Unlike here in the United States, West Bank residents are always fearful that a missile could come and destroy their home or community, she said.
"When you hear fireworks rockets here, you know it is going to stop," she said. "There it just keeps going."
Even though the Israelis do give some warning before the rockets fly, Ms. Shaban said that many Palestinians can only bring so much with them.
"You have to bring everything with you," she said.
Despite Israeli claims to the contrary, Ms. Shaban said she does not believe the Palestinians and Hamas are using people as "human shields."
"We wouldn’t use anyone (that way)," she said.
She said she does understand how complicated the political issues are that have led to the recent bloodshed, and that she and her family are praying every night during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan for peace in the region.
"There is so much misery (there)," she said. "Everyone wants retaliation."