BOSTON – It was one year ago that a terrorist attack by Hamas killed 1,200 men, women, and children, in Israel, including 46 Americans. It has led to a widespread Middle East conflict killing an estimated 40,000 Palestinians.
In the heart of Boston there were calls for both peace and release of hostages as families, faith leaders and community advocates came together for a memorial service hosted by the organization If Not Now.
One year later, the collective grief heard in a solemn song was deep. One year later, the violence sparked by horrific evil persists.
“I hold a great deal of grief and also rage, of the horror and violence of the past year,” said Isaiah Newman of If Not Now. “Every life in Jewish tradition is a universe, every life carries weight, carries value, carries meaning inherently and every life is worthy of dignity, every life is worthy of respect.”
Community mourns lives lost since Oct. 7 attacks
Together in the middle of the Boston Public Garden, a community stood in unity one year after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, mourning all the lives lost since that day. 1,200 Israelis were killed. Some hostages didn’t make it out alive and some are still in captivity today. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in in Israel ensuing war in Gaza.
Now the latest middle conflict is escalating in Lebanon, where Reem’s family is living in terror. “Most of my family is in Lebanon, I’m worried about their safety every single day they’re five minutes from utter chaos every single day,” said Reem. “I’m losing sleep.”
What they can do now is join together calling for an end to the death and destruction.
In solidarity, Representative Ayana Pressley joins that continued mission. “We can’t just pray for peace, we can’t just hope and that’s why we have to engage every diplomatic tool available to us for a ceasefire and we have to stop sending bombs,” said Rep. Pressley. “In this moment what I’m sitting with is the thousands of lives that we have been robbed off, that are Israeli, that are Palestinian, that are Jewish, that are Muslim that are Arab, that are American.”
Tammy Mutasa
Tammy Mutasa joined WBZ-TV as a multi-skilled journalist in January 2023. She previously worked for KOMO News in Seattle for five years.
