Page 10 - North Star 2024

preach to a community that has had their very humanity ripped from their souls.
Yet-- there are. There are sermons. We know this, because the people of Gaza still pray. Some of the most remarkable images I have seen coming out of this war are those of Palestinians lined up in prayer, just like I am every night, but beside the remnants of their destroyed homes. They pray beside unexploded missiles. They pray beside death and destruction. They scribble prayers and declarations of faith into walls as they await the next airstrike. Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike congregate in houses of worship that may be bombed at any second (which is illegal under international law, but so is just about everything else that has been done to Gaza). Mosques and churches, with their walls crumbling and roofs blown open, still host rows upon rows of worshippers as they reflect on what is being done to their home. Though their religious identities are attacked, demonized, and used against them, they persist in their belief.
Even in what may be their final moments, the people of Gaza have not turned away from their faith. On the contrary, it has become all the more important - it has become a symbol of life, of resistance, of hope. They still believe. They still survive. They still fight.
1 Source: Jewish Voice for Peace