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giligetz

@giligetz

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Photojournalist, Peace Activist and Actor

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Stop settler terror.

Photo Credit: Gili Getz

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Photo/video Credits: @mobi_lenzprofessional. e “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un”. Indeed, to Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return: ‘ The 10/7 memorial at Union Square surrounded by people of all faiths and traditions sharing in each others grief and shared humanity. The event was attended by @zohranmamdanii @mayormamdani, @brad.lander and @jumaane.williams as well as faith leaders. The event was organized by @giligetz and combatants for peace. #sharedhumanity #interfaithdialogue #community #sisterhoodofsalaamshalom

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“Once again, the screams of hate thundered over the nuanced pleas for peace. The scene in Union Square this week felt furious and historical, painful and fraught. And yet I still believe: There is more that unites us than divides us. Peace will prevail. It begins in the messy middle where redemption lives.” ~ Rabbi @amichailaulavie

We invite you to read Rabbi Amichai’s eye witness account and reflections on what happened in Union Square on the third annual @israelisforpeacenyc Vigil for 10/7. He was right in the middle of it ➡️ 🔗BLOG link in our bio or visit: www.labshul.org/category/blog

📸 Photo credit: @giligetz

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I was there last night. Standing in Union Square alongside my very dear friends at @israelisforpeacenyc, at what was supposed to be a solemn vigil to mark three years since October 7th. Hell, I helped organize the damn thing, and it ended up being something completely different.

I love and believe in the space that IFP created when the war began.

I’ve stood with them, protested with them, and mourned with them for three years. Week after week. Calling for the return of the hostages and for an end to the killing of innocent Palestinians in the name of revenge.

Israel and Palestine - our futures are intertwined. We say that over and over again. Because it’s true, and because we believe it.

We planned a vigil to hold space for all pain. The pain of those brutally murdered and kidnapped from their homes on October 7th, and the pain of Palestinians in Gaza, experiencing loss and devastation as a result of what Hamas did and the Israeli retaliation.

Because pain is pain. It hurts just as much, no matter what ‘side’ you’re on.

You’ve probably seen that a mob of so-called pro-Palestinians came to protest against the mayor, who had come to attend the vigil. In doing so, they also ran us over, calling us nazis and Zionist pigs, amongst other things.

These people weren’t interested in reality. They had already made up their minds before they ever left their cozy apartments to march the streets so they could yell and scream about things that I’m sure the majority of them don’t fully understand. They definitely didn’t take even a moment to see who we were and what we were doing. It was enough for them to know that we’re Israeli, and that’s tantamount to being the devil in their eyes.

They proudly waved Hamas flags and held up signs with Sinwar’s face on them. Irony just died.

I felt their aggression. I heard their verbal violence and saw their body language. I’m grateful it never came to actual, physical violence.

We carried on. We held our event, even if not quite as planned, and we did not give in to their provocations.

I’m proud of how it was handled. Proud to have been there. No place else I would rather have been.

Photos: @giligetz

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What happened in Union Square

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Last week, our activists were invited to speak at the UN Headquarters in New York by the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the UN Department of Peace Operations and the Middle East Division.

Jamil, Mai and Gili talked about the unprecedentedly violent situation in the West Bank and they called for urgent actions from the international community. They also detailed ways Security Council members could support nonviolent peace efforts in the region to create a different reality.

During our time in New York, we also met with donors and religious communities engaged in interfaith dialogue, notably at the Islamic Center of the Hamptons.

That's a wrap for our latest advocacy tour in the US. Thank you to each and every person we met along the way, people who came to listen to our story and message, who asked questions and shared about their own commitment to justice, who empowered us to continue being an alternative to division and violence.

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Tonight, organized by @israelisforpeacenyc, we read the heart-rending words of mothers & fathers & sons & daughters who lost Israeli loved ones on October 7th — and who lost Palestinian loved ones in the three years since.

We said kaddish for all of them. We refused to compromise on anyone’s humanity. No amount of shouting stopped us (and no amount of social media snark will, either).

May their memories be for a (direly needed) blessing.

📸: @giligetz (of course)

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Last Wednesday, Mai Shahin, Jamil Qassas, and Gili Getz gave an empowering talk to the Tri-College community. They left a powerful impression on our community. Bi-Co Atidna is honored to share and uplift the critical work by @combatantsforpeace_english and @afcfpeace for a future without war and oppression. Thank you to everyone who came to and supported this event ☮️🕊️✌️

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Photo credits: @mobi_lenzprofessional. What an inspirational evening listening to peace activists advocating an end to aggression in the Middle East. It was lovely to hear from Mai, Jamil and @giligetz. #peacearoundtheglobe #sharedhumanity #nycactiongroup #SOSS

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I’m in Manhattan tonight with Combatants for Peace—a community of Palestinians and Israelis who have laid down their arms and committed their lives to breaking the destructive cycle of violence and retribution.

Jamil Qassas (center) was raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers often raided his family’s home. As a teenager, he threw stones during the First Intifada. “I wanted to take revenge on those soldiers who humiliated my mother and me,” he said. “This was my way of expressing my anger.” He was put in administrative detention for six months. Not long after, Jamil’s brother was walking to visit their uncle after curfew when IDF soldiers appeared and startled him. He gave chase, and they short and killed him with a “Dumdum,” a bullet that explodes inside the body into small parts, destroying the body from within.

Years later, during the Second Intifada, a bus explosion killed many children in Jerusalem. Jamil noticed his mother crying near their television. “Why are you crying, Mama?” he asked. “Those are Israelis who were killed, not us.” She looked at me and said, “Those kids who were killed have mothers. And those mothers will have the same feelings and the same pain that we went through.”

There is a global community of peacemakers—Palestinians and Israelis, and those living in the diasporas of both communities. These are people who have made the decision to end the cycle of grief and anger and humiliation and live a life for the improbable idea of peace and reconciliation. I love being part of these circles, connected to these people, who always leave me feeling that we are much more powerful than the narrow sweep of recent history would have us believe.

Grateful to my friend, the great @giligetz, who always invites me into these little portals of hope.

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It’s been a long time since I’ve come this close to this level of hateful rage at a protest.

Yesterday outside the UN, even the moment of silence I held to honor all innocent victims of violence was interrupted by pro-Bibi Jewish hecklers.

I was honored to speak at a rally protesting Netanyahu’s UN speech alongside progressive peace and justice leaders from across the American Jewish community, including T’ruah and NYJA, representing Lab/Shul and Rabbis for Human Rights.

I chose not to focus on Bibi, but on the prayers and actions that will help us heal and build hope ahead: Like voting. Like protective presence and the upcoming olive harvest in the West Bank.

Our group of about 100 was repeatedly confronted by a small, loud group of pro-Bibi supporters who screamed "traitors" and worse—singing Hatikvah over the words of rabbis and activists in an attempt to silence us. It was a sad and foolish tactic, and ultimately useless: our message was heard loud and clear.

Even when I asked for a moment of silence to honor all innocent victims of violence—both Israelis and Palestinians—they kept screaming "Am Yisrael Chai."

Tragic.

Yes, I replied—what a privilege it is to be alive and to honor our people. And let’s honor ALL people and ALL lives, too.

As the Israeli Prime Minister spoke to a mostly empty UN hall, I asked our community to focus on the future, not this pathetic present. To work together in every way we can to build the peace that will not descend from above, but rise from below through our shared commitment to show up:

To vote. To harvest olives. To support, to protest, and to never stop believing in our intertwined futures and a lasting, possible peace.

Bye, Bibi. Let’s focus on a future of healing and peace.

#RabbisForHumanRights #LabShul #PeaceIsPossible #StandForPeace #JewishValues BothAnd OliveHarvest UNProtest

photos and vids by Gili Getz

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