The Philadelphia region on Monday remembered the victims of Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack in Israel.
Last year’s conflict in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel has unexpectedly turned perceived enemies, rooted in religious differences, into unlikely allies.
In Jewish tradition, Yahrzeit marks the anniversary of a death. A ceremony at Fairmount Water Works commemorated a year of mourning since the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. But this Yahrzeit was not traditional given the presence of Palestinians alongside Jews.
“We had to acknowledge the tragedies of October 7. We have to stand with our Jewish cousins and tell them, ‘This is wrong.’ Just as they support us when we talk about the 41,000 people who died, that is also wrong,” said Sam Kuttab of the Palestinian Americans of Philadelphia.
Contrary to popular belief, mutual sympathy is possible.
“We understand their pain and they understand our pain,” Kuttab said.
“We grieve together,” said Sukey Blanc of If Not Now Philly. “We all have a moral responsibility to take responsibility for every other person. Every life has value.”
Shortly after the war began, Kuttab, a Palestinian American, and Blanc, an Israeli American, met as opposing protesters at a rally. But by the end of the night, they came together – literally – at a restaurant table and found common ground after airing their grievances.
“You look your enemy in the eye and try to figure out how to make sense of it,” Kuttab said.
“What I learned then is that I thought I understood some things, but I didn’t,” Blanc said. “They did not call for the destruction of the Jewish people.”
Respective Jewish and Palestinian organizations, including If Not Now Philly and Prayers for Peace Alliance, collaborated for three days with a solidarity walk on Sunday, the vigil on Monday evening and a peace rally at City Hall on Tuesday.
“When we enter that space, we overcome fear and prejudice,” Blanc said.
