The organizers of the Families' Ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the October 7th massacre, which will be held in Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, announced on Thursday that the event will begin at 7:00 p.m. to prevent it from overlapping with the State Ceremony that was organized by the government and is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.
The Families' Ceremony will begin with a moment of silence at 7:10. According to the organizers it will include only "unifying speeches" and will not involve politics.
"The gates to the park will open to the public at 5:00 p.m., the ceremony will begin at 7:10 with a moment of silence," the organizers stated.
Earlier in the day, bereaved families and family members of hostages, together with Elisha Medan, who was severely wounded in Gaza, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who organized the State Ceremony, and local authority leaders in the Gaza envelope demanding they hold a singular and unifying ceremony.
"The October 7th massacre requires state attention, but the way that the Israeli government has decided to produce the ceremony has missed the point, in our opinion. In light of the developments, it would be best to lend an ear to the feelings of the entire nation," they wrote.
The letter's signers noted: "We will not let our loved ones' memories become a political issue. How is it possible that their memory went so quickly from being a call for reconciliation to a difficult memory that divides us? Our loved ones were killed, murdered, and abducted, without differentiation between supporters or opponents of the government."
They further noted that amidst all the disagreements and opinions - "We have the option of connecting to a unifying, painful, great, and joint memory. While we argue about how the ceremony would look, our loved ones whisper to us: 'Ovecome, remember us together.' We must have a ceremony that is stately and unifying, with a bowed head and accountability which will express the pain of the past, amazement by the heroism, and a prayer for the open wounds: the hostages, the displaced, and the wounded. The nation expects hope. Hundreds of thousands of families who are still in the reserves and are looking for our home."
Addressing the Prime Minister, Minister Regev, and local leaders they demanded: "Do everything, overcome a painful and angry past, and gather together. There is a plethora of proposals to lower the flames and unify, including the President's proposal. We offer ourselves for the effort to meet, bridge, and assist as needed, until we walk out together with a consensus on a central state ceremony, unifying and shared."
