Alternative Memorial Day ceremony: Survivor of captivity to perform alongside Palestinian who lost 25 family members in Gaza

The joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony of the organizations "Combatants for Peace" and "Bereaved Families Forum" will be held on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in Tel Aviv and Beit Jala (near Bethlehem) at the same time.

The ceremony marks its 20th anniversary this year. The event will be broadcast live to a record number of 160 private and public screening centers in Israel and around the world, including countries such as the United States, Germany, England, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Canada and Switzerland.

It is a joint commemorative event of Israelis and Palestinians that takes place on Israeli Memorial Day. The ceremony seeks to sow hope among both sides, especially those who have paid the heavy price of the conflict, and to put an end to the wars that have claimed the lives of their loved ones and relatives.

Among the Israeli speakers at the event will be Liat Atzili, a survivor of the massacre at Kibbutz Nir Oz and a survivor of captivity in Gaza, whose husband, the late Aviv Atzili, was murdered on October 7 and whose body is still being held in Gaza. Also speaking will be Liel Fishbein, a resident of Be'eri who survived the massacre, the bereaved brother of the late Tchelet Fishbein, who was murdered on October 7 along with her partner.

On the Palestinian side, Musa Juma'a, a resident of the West Bank, who lost his cousin who was shot in front of his eyes, and lost 25 members of his family in the war in Gaza, will also speak. In addition, the speech of F., a resident of the West Bank and the bereaved daughter of a mother who was murdered in Gaza, will be read by social activist Amani Hamdan.

The event will include performances by the Arab-Jewish Women's Choir Rana, the Jewish-Arab Youth Choir of Jerusalem, as well as a show for peace by Yehu Yaron, Ella Ronen and Ruth Dolores Weiss. Singer Mary Mansa will perform with Spyridon Sachs and Louis Khalif in a performance of Fairuz's song "Weinan - Where Are They".

The event will feature a video specially prepared for the ceremony, in which young Israeli and Palestinian men and women from the Bereaved Families Forum and Combatants for Peace will participate, including May Perry - the grandson of Haim Perry - who will talk about loss and hope, a way of working together.