Thanksgiving Day is usually a joyous holiday celebrated by Americans on the last Thursday of November but it was a solemn one on Thursday due to the crisis between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
It has also caused tensions which have led to tight security measures being put in place at shopping malls, airports, and other places in the United States. New York's signature Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade also had security officials on duty.
The celebration is significant for family and friends as it ushers the festive season with discount sales across shopping malls.
Thanksgiving Day can be traced back to 1863, in the middle of the American Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November as a day to be thankful and ask for healing.
However, several Native Americans see Thanksgiving as a day of dark reflection due the genocide that followed.
According to Reuters, this year’s holiday has been characterized by the crisis which has led to Islamophobia in the United States. Besides, there have been warnings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that terrorists’ threat of attacks have increased and are the most in last ten years.
During the reporting of the thanksgiving parade on Thursday, President Joe Biden made a call for decency and national unity. He made this statement during a phone call with NBC television.
He said, "Today is about coming together. We can have different political views but we should focus on dealing with our problems and stop the rancor."
In his Thanksgiving post on Facebook, Biden wrote, "This Thanksgiving, as Jill and I reflect on our nation's many blessings, we are thankful for our brave service members and the first responders who put so much on the line to keep us safe today and everyday."
Speaking on the probability of a protest happening during the thanksgiving, New York Mayor, Eric Adams, told reporters that the city would not condone any disorder although it has respect for free speech rights.
He said yesterday, "You are not going to destroy property, you're not going to injure people."
There were no cases of violence during the parade but a group of about 20 pro-Palestinian protesters paused the parade for some minutes by lining across Sixth Avenue.
Majority of them were adorned with tops with the texts, ‘Stop the Genocide’. They also carried a banner with the texts, ‘Genocide then, genocide now,’ ‘Land back’, and ‘Free Palestine.’
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