Over this past week’s Memorial Day which is traditionally held to highlight the deaths of fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terrorism, a ceremony was held jointly by Israelis and Palestinians, calling for reconciliation by highlighting the sufferings caused to both sides of the conflict. The event, which is organized by two organizations, the Israel-Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace, and Combatants for Peace was, for the first time since its inception in 2006, only streamed online rather than attended in person due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the event were Israelis and Palestinians who shared their experiences regarding the loss of their loved ones, and how they managed to cope or are coping with their losses. One of the speakers at the event, Tal Kfir Schurr, recalled the day she lost her sister Yael to a terrorist attack on her car while she was driving from Jerusalem to Ashkelon in 2003. “What can I say about the line that connects the unbearable loss and bereavement with hoping and believing that it can get better for all of us here?” When speaking of the current conflict and drawing back on the values Israel was built on, Tal said, “I believe there is an opportunity today to remember how much we need each other, person to person, people to people. There could be a society here that allows this: a society that despite all the contradictions and disasters, upholds the values on which this state was built.”
"The conflict is man-made, and we humans can end it"
From the Palestinians who spoke at the ceremony, Yakub al Rabi recalled the day he lost his wife to settler violence while his family was in Hebron. Aisha, Yakub’s wife, was a mother to eight children and was struck in the face by a rock thrown at the family’s car by settlers, while they were driving through the city in preparation for their daughter’s wedding. “That terrible moment stole my happiness, and that of my children, and all of my family.” While speaking at the event, Yakub mentioned he had a message for Israelis directly, and went on to say, “I want to convey to Israeli society and to the whole world, a message born from my bleeding wound: we all lose victims to this conflict and it doesn’t tell apart soldiers from civilians, women or men, children or adults, or between taking part and bystanders. This conflict is man-made, and we humans can end it.
Also speaking at an event through a video message was Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nation’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. While expressing the importance of events such as the one organized between Israelis and Palestinians on Memorial Day, Mladenov said, “You are able to cross divides and find partners on both sides of the conflict. This is highly needed today. We’ve seen cooperation and also confrontation, but what we really need to see is Palestinians and Israelis coming together to fight for peace. There are radicals on all sides, and people who want to burn bridges between Israelis and Palestinians. What you are doing goes against that, and this really is the work of humanity.” Mladenov expressed the UN’s support for the event and said, “I want to assure you we at the UN recognize your work, and will tell the world about the work you’re doing. We will continue to support you.”
An intimate Zoom meeting with a bereaved parent
As part of the event and by taking advantage of the online nature that the ceremony was held on this year, the organizers of the event also arranged for a Zoom interaction, between members of the Bereaved Families for Peace, and those who tuned in for the event, in an opportunity to directly pose questions to families which have lost loved ones during the war. One of the speakers was Rami Elhanan, a Jerusalemite who lost his 14-year-old daughter, Smadar, in a suicide bombing on Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda street. When asked on Zoom how he views Israeli’s who say they are not ready to sharing grief with the enemy (Palestinians) is a line they are not ready to cross, Rami responded “When we label them as the enemy, we’re doing it from a place of fear. In the last 30 years, the only wars we’ve fought against the Palestinians have seen us, one of the strongest militaries in the world with nuclear weapons, and them, boys with stones and rocks. How are they a “enemy” as strongly as we put them out to be? We send our Israeli children to Auschwitz when they are 16, and they come back with flags draped around them with the words ‘never again’. These boys are then made in charge of security checkpoints and have to decide whether a 70-year-old Palestinian grandfather is a threat, or just someone crossing a checkpoint. This is dangerous.”
Though the event has been running annually since 2006, it has been criticized by several Israeli government officials. Last year, in 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke against the event, and went on to order a ban on several West Bank Palestinians who were traveling to attend the event. This order was later overturned by the High Court of Justice. Israel’s Minister for Communication David Amsalem condemned the Reshet Bet radio station for running an advertisement for the event. He tweeted, “An alternative and controversial ceremony, to put it mildly, for Memorial Day receives approval and promotion by the Israeli public broadcaster?”
Even after being criticized by members of the government, and not being able to hold an in-person event due to the current pandemic, the event still managed to draw over 200,000 viewers from Israel, Palestine and around the world. The recorded live stream of the very moving event can be viewed from the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W7BXILC1S0