Annual ceremony
The Joint Memorial Day Ceremony
On the eve of Israeli Memorial Day, bereaved Israelis and Palestinians grieve side by side — one of the largest jointly organised peace events ever held in the region.
1:30 pm ET / 10:30 am PT
This year
The 21st Joint Memorial Ceremony
A shared act of remembrance that refuses the belief that war, bloodshed and dehumanisation must define the future.
Where In Israel, with a simultaneous event in Palestine, broadcast live worldwide — and satellite events from London to Berlin, New York to Stockholm.
Smaller screenings also run across Israel, and communities abroad host their own.
The ceremony
Two grieving nations, in the same room
Organised with Combatants for Peace, and held every year since 2006.
The Joint Memorial Day Ceremony, organised by Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle – Families Forum, is one of the largest Israeli-Palestinian jointly organised peace events in history. It gives Israelis and Palestinians a way to grieve together while demanding an end to the occupation and the violence.
The ceremony falls on the eve of Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day. The ceremonies most often held to mark that day reinforce a story of pain, victimhood and hopelessness. This one changes the story by bringing Palestinians to mourn alongside Israelis, and modelling another way forward.
For more than two decades it has brought together bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones in the conflict — many of them in the past two and a half years. Their testimonies are a reminder that grief is not confined to one side, and that acknowledging one another’s pain is a necessary step toward a different future.
15,000
Israelis and Palestinians at the 2023 ceremony in Tel Aviv
200+
Venues abroad that screened the ceremony in 2024
2006
The year of the first joint ceremony, with fewer than 100 people
History
Mourning together changes what people believe
By grieving in public, together, every year, the ceremony has moved opinion on a scale no single event could.
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2006
The first joint ceremony
Fewer than 100 people attended. Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle held it on the eve of Yom HaZikaron, and have held one every year since.
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2023
15,000 in the room
Over 15,000 Israelis and Palestinians attended in person in Tel Aviv, while hundreds of thousands more joined online.
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2024
Held in private, watched everywhere
After October 7, 2023 and the bloodshed that followed, the ceremony continued in an undisclosed location, with groups watching remotely across Israel and Palestine and in more than 200 venues abroad.
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2026
The 21st ceremony
In Israel with a simultaneous event in Palestine, broadcast live to a global community, and marked locally at satellite events around the world.
Over the years
Who has stood on that stage
Guests over the years have included Desmond Tutu, Tushar Gandhi, Mubarak Awad, Richard Gere, Achinoam Nini (Noa), Mira Awad, Eliezer Yaari and David Grossman.
The people the evening belongs to are the bereaved families themselves — the ones who lost somebody and came anyway, to stand beside people from the other side who lost somebody too.
Grief on both sides, and no revenge.
The ceremony is free to attend, and it costs money to hold. Your gift keeps the families who lead it in the room.
More ways to give
Every gift is tax-deductible and goes to the families running this work.
EIN 95-4869142
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Donate by check
Payable to American Friends of the Parents Circle – Families Forum, with the campaign name on the memo line.
2248 Broadway #1531, New York, NY 10024
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A recurring gift lets the families plan the year ahead. Change or cancel it at any time.
The Sustainers Circle of Hope
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A direct bank transfer carries no processing fee, so the whole gift reaches the families.
Bank details on request
Bank transfer details
Donor-advised funds, IRA rollovers and legacy gifts are welcome too — email [email protected].
