'It's scary': Buffalo Grove rally shows support for Israel, concern for friends and family

As fighting in the Gaza Strip continued Sunday, a crowd of about 200 - including descendants of Holocaust survivors and former residents of Israel - gathered in Buffalo Grove to show solidarity with Israel and support for friends and loved ones still in the region.

Several attendees draped themselves with the Israeli flag and chanted, "Am Yisrael Chai" - "the people of Israel live."

The rally served as a counterpoint to a huge gathering Sunday afternoon in downtown Chicago, where thousands of pro-Palestinian marchers waived flags and called for an end to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Among the speakers in Buffalo Grove was village resident Marta Gavrialov, who said she has friends and family in Israel, some of whom have been injured and are suffering a heavy psychological toll.

"Twice a day (Hamas) are bombing Be'er Sheva. Ashkelon, four times a day. Tel Aviv, five, six times a day," she said.

"I used to live there for 15 years. I know what it is. You don't want to get used to that feeling," Gavrialov added. "I was the witness of two terrorist attacks when the soldiers in front of me were laying on the ground without legs."

In the crowd was Frieda Chernobrov of Buffalo Grove, who said her best friend from school now lives in Israel.

"They couldn't go to bed because missiles were coming all the time, and they don't have the special room in their house," she said. "Some new homes have the special rooms. But their apartment doesn't have it. There is not enough time to go from the fifth floor all the way down to the basement of their house."

Molly Gale of Arlington Heights said she has cousins in the Israeli city Rishon LeTsiyon, where someone was killed in the latest outbreak of fighting.

"It's scary," she said. "Every time I hear something, I think of them and I get in touch with them."