Twenty-two miles. It’s the distance from Gaza City to Rafah, a trek made by many Palestinian refugees in recent months.
It’s also the distance, roughly speaking, from a former shellmound in West Berkeley to a mosque in Alameda — a trek some Jews and others in the East Bay community will make this Saturday as part of the Interfaith Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage.
San Francisco resident Elliot Hellman is one of them. Hellman, who is on the steering committee of the San Francisco Black and Jewish Unity Coalition, said he’s one of a contingent of members of Or Shalom, the city’s Reconstructionist synagogue, who plan to participate. He considers it a duty.
“Too many Jews are, at best, meekly expressing concern, or, at worst, supporting the slaughter and devastation under the indefensible belief that killing makes us safer,” he said, referring to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. “It does not.”
The walk has four stated goals: to advocate for an “enduring and sustained” cease-fire, greater aid for displaced Palestinians, the release of all hostages and the “end of occupation for a just peace.”
It’s organized by the Oakland-based Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, whose board is chaired by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. Gottlieb sits on the rabbinic council of Jewish Voice for Peace and is known locally for her activism on issues from Indigenous rights to immigrant rights to prison abolition.
“Jewish tradition demands that I not stand idly by as innocent blood is shed,” Gottlieb said in an email to J. “I am walking in atonement and hope that our action will persuade more hearts to embrace ‘cease’ as the pathway to genuine security for all people.”
So far 500 people have registered for the walk, according to Felicia Hyde, Interfaith Movement’s communications director. The group will meet at César Chávez Park at the Berkeley Marina at 7 a.m. and take a winding path, stopping for prayer at some of the interfaith institutions that are co-sponsoring the walk.
Jewish tradition demands that I not stand idly by as innocent blood is shed.
One stop will be at St. Columba Catholic Church, where walkers will pause for a “mini-Shabbat service” at one of the largest Black Catholic churches in the region. The service will be conducted by Gottlieb and Rabbi Cat Zavis of Beyt Tikkun.
The list of participating organizations includes Methodist, Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches along with Buddhist and non-religious groups. Jewish groups on the list include Kehilla Community Synagogue, Beyt Tikkun synagogue and Gottlieb’s Shomeret Shalom Community. IfNotNow, the Jewish anti-occupation activist group, and Jewish Voice for Peace, the Jewish anti-Zionist activist group, are also co-sponsors.
Knowing that not everyone can walk the whole way, organizers are encouraging people to focus on a 1.5-mile stretch in Oakland from the Buddhist Church of Oakland to the First Congregational Church of Oakland.
The march was inspired in part by an Australian Christian movement. The umbrella organization has a decidedly Christian bent, with many references to Lent and Jesus, although it promises “no proselytization” on its marches.
The East Bay walk is less explicitly Christian, however, and is “open to people of all faith backgrounds or none,” the website says.
“In the East Bay, the vision for the Gaza Ceasefire pilgrimage merged with the ongoing work of interfaith organizers, including a network of faith communities who have raised banners advocating for a ceasefire,” the organizers said on their website.