Photo Credit: Flash90
Palestinians and Israelis attend a joint ceremony for the families of Israeli and Palestinian victims on Israeli Remembrance Day, in Tel Aviv on April 21, 2015.

{Originally posted to the JNS website}

Following an Israeli High Court ruling that Israel must grant permits to 100 Palestinian Authority residents to attend a joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony, some 9,000 Israelis and a few dozen Palestinians took part in the Tuesday night event at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.

Advertisement




Called “Sharing Sorrow, Bringing Hope,” the event was funded by Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle–Families Forum. Both organizations are funded by the New Israel Fund, as well as German, Swiss and other European Union donors. The controversial event has taken place annually since 2006.

Detractors say the event equates fallen Israeli soldiers with the terrorists who attacked them, and minimizes the struggle for Israel’s survival. Proponents say the event is meant to allow Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost loved ones to find common ground through their loss.

“There is no place for a memorial ceremony likening the blood of our people and that of terrorists,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter. “That is why I refused to allow for the entry of the ceremony’s participants, and I think the High Court should not have intervened in my decision.”

On Wednesday, Natan Landau of Combatants for Peace told Hadashot TV news that the families of terrorists who were killed were welcome as long as they expressed their opposition to terrorism.

“If a family says ‘we are against those acts and we believe in achieving peace through non-violent means,’ I believe it has a place,” he said.

Dozens of pro-Israel activists protested at the event. Police were on hand to maintain order.

Advertisement

SHARE
Previous articleIt’s Official: No More US Embassy Waivers, Ambassador’s Residence Established in Jerusalem
Next articlePro-Bibi Newspaper Leaks Suspiciously Campy Version of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’
www.JNS.org is an independent, non-profit business resource and wire service covering Jewish news and Israel news for Jewish media throughout the English-speaking world.