"It's a land grab. No matter how you look at it, it's a land grab," said Johnny.
"People accuse the Palestinians of using the slogan 'from the river to the sea Palestine will be free' but in reality it is the Israelis that used that term in the beginning. It was in the Israeli Likud Party charter of 1970 where it is stated that Israel should be on the land 'from the sea to the river', you know."
Israeli officials deny they are allowing any illegal taking of land. They maintain that any Palestinian land taken under Israeli control was done so temporarily and for security purposes.
One of the things that most bothers Sakakini is the way the media portrays Palestinians -- likening them to terrorists due to the actions of extremist elements of Hamas or other militant groups.
"Nobody knows it, but you see how the media dehumanizes us and makes us look to the world like we're terrorists," he said. "Customers don't even know that Jesus was Palestinian. I said, how could you not know where Jesus was born? Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Where is Bethlehem? It's in Palestine. Jesus was a Palestinian Jew, just like there are Palestinian Jews today, Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian Christians."
Sakakini said he does not justify the attacks by Hamas last October. "There should not be violence used by either side. There should be peace for us and peace for the Israelis."
Members of the Palestinian community around the country have been pressing their congressional representatives to get the Biden administration to arrange a ceasefire in the Gaza War and get humanitarian aid into Gaza. Sakakini and three others -- including a young woman from Greenwich, CT, who has lost 120 members of her wider family in the war -- met with U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-CT, and told him how much suffering their community had endured and pleaded with him to back a ceasefire.
But the meeting was fruitless. "He basically said, 'I understand your pain, but we have to back Israel,' " Sakakini said.
The resistance by members of Congress to criticize Israel and push for peace has left Palestinians like Johnny bitter at the Democrats. He said many Palestinians will stay uncommitted in this year's election.
"I was a Democrat all my life. I always voted for them," he said. "But things have to change."
Sakakini was asked what the solution is to the long-running Palestinian-Israeli dispute.
"A two-state solution. Give the Palestinians the right to live as human beings with all the resources. Give the land back to us that we had. Give the land back so we're living in peace and have all the rights like anyone else," he said.
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