| Tomorrow is the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and the beginning of the Jewish High Holidays. It is usually a time for families across Israel to come together at home to celebrate, atone, reflect and look ahead to a new year with a feeling of renewal and anticipation. This year is of course different. Thousands of families across Israel are missing loved ones, and many are in temporary accommodation having left their homes nearly one year ago. Over 100,000 Israelis are currently internally displaced, unable to live close to the Southern or Northern borders, with no return date in sight, and hopes for a ceasefire consistently dashed by more and more violence perpetuated in their name. Millions of Israelis have protested, gone on strike and screamed for an end to the war and the return of the hostages, millions have been ignored. There is no sense of home either for the people of Gaza. 1.9million people are internally displaced, looking for a place of safety, shelter and stability. The unbearable cruelty of the Israeli air strikes and ground invasion have robbed millions of people of their possessions, their security, and their lives as they knew them. Communities in the West Bank are no strangers to demolitions and displacement facing increasingly frequent land grabs by settlers, and officially backed settlement expansion encroaching further onto privately owned Palestinian lands. As the violence increases and more and more lives are lost, so are their homes, as entire rural communities pack up their belongings and move on, leaving their lands, water sources and crops to the settlers that stole them. As Palestinians and Israelis that choose to stand alongside each other, our collective wish for the new year ahead is for everyone to return to their homes or to find solace and safety somewhere new. For everyone to have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, and to finally turn the page on this hideous year of violence and move on to a more peaceful future. We continue to call for a diplomatic solution that will end this war, and allow us all in Palestine and Israel to find a sense of calm in the place that we all call home. As we approach the one-year milestone since the October 7th attack and the war on Gaza, we invite you to join us for a time of personal reflection and action. This moment calls us to acknowledge our deep sorrow, and to renew our commitment to peace, freedom, and safety for all. As part of many initiatives that are happening globally, we invite you to join our unique international community online on; 9:00pm Jerusalem Time | 7:00pm London Time | 2:00pm New York Time | | | | | | | | | Through these virtual gatherings, we seek to establish a unified ritual space to process grief, confront the systems of oppression that perpetuate immeasurable suffering, and reframe the crisis in Israel and Palestine by fostering a shared vision of reconciliation, justice, and collective actions to bring about peace. The virtual gatherings will be facilitated by Nonviolence International, Parents Circle Families Forum/American Friends of Parents Circle Families Forum, and Combatants for Peace/American Friends of Combatants for Peace. In addition to joining us online, we encourage you to take action and organize your own in-person gatherings throughout these days—community vigils, sharing circles, sit-ins, peace walks, days of fasting, humanitarian efforts. We invite you to wear a black ribbon or armband as a symbol of our shared grief and shared commitment to collective liberation. In Peace, Solidarity and Hope we wish those observing שנה טובה كل عام وأنتم بخير and a Happier New Year than the last for us all. |
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