From our series on Israel and Palestine since the bloodshed began on Oct 7th, 2023.

Since the bloodshed in Israel and Palestine began on Oct 7th, community leaders across the U.S. are responding with Revolutionary Love and organizing grief circles and vigils. On Sunday, those inspired by See No Stranger organized a powerful vigil in front of the White House to grieve together + call for ceasefire.

They wrote:

“We centered our grief and our empathy both for Palestinian lives and for Israeli lives. We refuse to place a hierarchy of value on human life. We know that violence cannot build peace. We refuse to be enemies.”

WATCH A READING OF SEE NO STRANGER 

Below is the flyer they created to gather members of the community. Use this as a template to organize your own vigil. 

“A vigil to mourn the losses of Israelis and Palestinians and to lift our voices to demand an end to the cycle of violence, an end to further suffering and a reimagining of what is possible. Many of us in the American Jewish community are heartbroken and horrified by the events of the past weeks in Israel and Gaza and join together to call for an immediate ceasefire as a first step to a long-term solution…

We grieve the loss of life. We grieve for Israeli lives cut short by Hamas’s slaughter. We grieve for Palestinian lives cut short by Israel’s bombardment, siege and now ground invasion. We grieve for the loss of all life and for the obscurement of our common humanity. We pray for a new beginning.

In the Jewish community and across America we hold a wide diversity of opinions and voices around the many changes that need to happen to bring peace to the Middle East. We can and will continue advocating to advance these beliefs forward in the future, however, right now, we urgently need to end the crisis in Gaza, to save as many lives as possible and to prevent more harm. From across our diversity, we unite with the clear call:

Ceasefire.
Bring the hostages back alive.
Urgently deliver humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.
Invest in peace.”