An alternative Israeli Memorial Day ceremony headlined by Israel's Eurovision duo Mira Awad and Achinoam Nini was held by the "Combatants for Peace" organization in Tel Aviv on Monday, April 27, 2009.
The ceremony, attended by hundreds of people, commemorated both Israeli and Palestinian victims of violence and was held for a fourth consecutive year.
Participants included Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families as well as prominent artists, intellectuals and performers such as Shlomi Shaban, Rona Keinan, Ze'ev Tene and Israel Prize laureate Judd Ne'eman.
Mira Awad, an Israeli Arab performer, and Achinoam Nini (known internationally as Noa), an Israeli Jewish singer, both chosen to represent Israel together in May's Eurovision competition, performed a song in Hebrew, Arabic and English. (Awad is on right in photos, Nini on left).
Amongst the speakers at the alternative memorial ceremony was Bassam Aramin (appears in photos), a Palestinian peace activist whose 10-year-old daughter, Abir, was killed by Israeli Border Police gunfire near Jerusalem in 2007.
Aramin, among the founders of Combatants for Peace, said that "peace should not be the goal but rather the way." He said that Israelis and Palestinians remain enemies due to a cycle of fear borne of ignorance and separation.
A photography exhibition was displayed on the outer walls of the Tmuna Theatre during the memorial event.
"Combatants for Peace" is an organization comprised of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants who had been involved in the cycle of violence and who have pledged to seek a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict by laying down their weapons.
The participants work together in Israel, Palestine and around the world: promoting reconciliation and a non-violent struggle; removing alienation and suspicion; and creating an Israeli-Palestinian lobby that will pressure leaders to put an end to occupation and establish peace.
Mainstream Israeli Memorial Day ceremonies remember soldiers and civilians killed in wars and terror attacks.
The total number of Israelis remembered this Memorial Day is 22,570. The casualties are counted from 1860, when Jews first settled outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. In addition, 1,723 civilians have been killed in hostile acts since Israel's founding in 1948.
On Memorial Day morning, air raid sirens are sounded around the country, bringing people and traffic to a solemn halt for two minutes.
(Mati Milstein is a freelance photographer and journalist based in Tel Aviv. A former chief desk editor at Haaretz.com, the website of Israel's leading daily newspaper, his work has appeared in National Geographic News, Archaeology magazine and other media outlets in Israel and abroad. He may be found on the Web at www.matimilstein.com)
