SANTA CRUZ — Around 60 community members gathered on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse Friday afternoon for the Know Their Names demonstration, intended to honor and recognize the thousands of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas war by reading their names aloud throughout the day.
“It’s just so heartbreaking what is being done to the Palestinian people,” said Know Their Names organizer Allan Fisher. “This callous disregard for human life is appalling to us, and we wanted to read the names of the perished children to honor them and recognize that the Palestinians have suffered so much injustice.”
According to reporting from the Associated Press earlier this week, more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Health Ministry reported in late July that those killed included 18,592 children and 9,782 women. Combined, they make up nearly half of those killed in the conflict.
Akindele Akiva Bankole blasts a mournful note on a shofar (ritual ram’s horn) as about 25 people gathered Friday morning on the county courthouse steps to mark the 700th day of captivity for the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. In 2023, as part of the Oct. 7 attacks that initiated the latest Israel-Hamas war, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups abducted 251 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women and elderly people. There are 48 hostages remaining in captivity in the Gaza Strip and according to Israeli intelligence, at least 25 of the remaining hostages are dead. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
The Israeli offensive, which has has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and fueled a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, was launched in response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in their attack. Most have since been released in ceasefires or other agreements, according to the Associated Press.
At the demonstration Friday, before participants took a rest from reading the list of 18,000 names to hear from a panel of speakers, retired teacher and quiltmaker Sarah Ringler told the Sentinel about the more than 30 quilts made by local artists that were on display outside the courthouse.
“It was about the middle of July and me and my friend Elizabeth Williams, a longtime Santa Cruz artist, were sitting on her porch thinking about how this is going on and what we could do, and she said, ‘Remember the AIDS quilt?’ So that’s really the inspiration,” said Ringler. “There are the names of 20 babies on each one. These are all babies that were killed before they were a year old. They didn’t even make it to their first birthday. There’s something really wrong about that.”
Following a ceremonial opening for the children of Palestine from Indigenous land stewards, Monterey resident and teacher Rolla Alaydi, who was raised in Gaza, spoke through tears about her numerous family members still in Gaza and about those who have been killed in the conflict.
“I stand before you today, not just as an educator and a mother but as a sister, an aunt and a daughter who is desperately trying to help her family trapped in Gaza,” said Alaydi. “Since this genocide began, my family has been forced to evacuate more than 20-plus times. Each time they carry nothing but what they can hold in their hands — moving from one place to another place — always searching for safety that does not exist.”
Peter Klotz-Chamberlin, with microphone, begins Friday’s vigil where the names of the children killed in Gaza were read. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Some community members in attendance cried along with Alaydi, saying “We are with you, Rolla,” as she held up photos and said the names of her slain and missing family members, including children.
“This is not just one tragedy,” said Alaydi. “It is a life of daily tragedies. Since the beginning of this U.S.-funded war, I have lost more than 200 family members on my mother’s side and my father’s side.”
Following the powerful speeches from Alaydi and University of San Francisco professor Stephen Zunes, local therapist Ellen Garfield of Santa Cruz Mental Health Professionals for Palestine took the stage.
“It has been soul-crushing to see the endless death of civilians, of families, of nurses and doctors and press, and most especially, of Palestinian babies and children,” said Garfield. “Our grief and rage is nothing compared to the Palestinian experience of this terror and this unimaginable loss.”
Volunteers continued to read names on the list between speakers, including Palestinian American Howla Jardali, UC Santa Cruz professor Christine Hong and Rabbi Chel Mandell of the TzimTzum community, who blew the shofar, or ritual ram’s horn, at the demonstration.
“We will continue to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, send aid and money as much as we can to those in Gaza and say the names out loud of those in Gaza and pray daily for the 2.3 million people in Gaza without food,” said Mandell. “We will say their names and their stories and we will not allow them to be erased in our Jewish community. Know that there are also other Jewish communities out there like this. We are not the only ones.”
The names of children killed in Gaza are read aloud during Friday’s vigil on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Anastasia Torres-Gil, left, and Rabbi Eli Cohen hold photos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David who was forced by Hamas to dig a grave on a video released in August. In the footage, David says, “Every day my body becomes weaker … I’m walking directly to my grave. I am digging the grave in which I will be buried.” (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Community members admire the quilts made by local artists that feature the names of babies under a year old killed in the Israel-Hamas War at the Know Their Names demonstration in Santa Cruz Friday. (Aric Sleeper – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
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The names of children killed in Gaza are read aloud during Friday’s vigil on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Before the Know Their Names demonstration began at 8:30 a.m. Friday, other members of the local Jewish community including Rabbi Eli Cohen of Chadeish Yameinu held a separate demonstration to pray for the civilians killed in the Israel-Hamas war and bring attention to the 48 Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
“Today marks 700 days of captivity of the hostages and that’s primarily what we were focused on,” said Cohen. “Secondarily, we knew that there are some people who would be focusing on the suffering in Gaza and we also named and focused on that, but what was troubling to us that the others did not name the suffering on both sides. And to us, it was very important to name the suffering on both sides.”
Cohen said the early morning gathering was intended to call to release the hostages, end the Israel-Hamas war, disarm Hamas and surge the food aid. He said they performed a traditional prayer for the innocent people who have died on both sides.
“Everybody wants the war to end but how we get there is always the question,” said Cohen. “Understandibly, so much of the focus right now is on the suffering in Gaza but we don’t want the hostages to be forgotten.”