Sunday May 12 from Jerusalem a sliver of hope streamed through the world from the U.S.to Australia even Afghanistan–who knew there were Jews there?

As the conflict in Gaza continues, reconciliation may seem a distant dream, but on both sides there are those working for peace

The common stage for the re-telling of their stories is the 19th annual joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony. The ceremony consists of story-telling and singing in Hebrew and Arabic.

The 19th annual joint Memorial Day ceremony, presented Sunday at the start of Israel’s national day of honoring fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of attacks, offered an alternative commemoration of both Israeli and Palestinian victims.

Last month, the Jerusalem District Court ordered the Israeli government to allow the ‘Parents Circle – Families Forum’ to continue holding meetings between students and Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families, but the Education Ministry refrained from doing so until now

Bereaved Israelis and Palestinians have come together to hold a joint Memorial Day ceremony and call for a “different future” for those in the region.

A memorial event that was a narrow glimpse through a window that needs to be opened, to a different reality for the people of both Israel and Palestine

In a day of great pain, and for many more than ever before, of personal grief, hundreds of Israelis, Jews and Palestinians, and others touched by the conflict across the world, attended a joint ceremony from Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle — Families Forum.

Amid war and lack of entry permits for Palestinians, controversial annual event is pre-recorded and livestreamed; Gazan who lost 60 relatives says all wanted to ‘live in freedom’

“Many people have woken up to the reality that this conflict cannot go on,” said a director of one Israeli peace-building group, referring to the decades of violence.