East End for Ceasefire, an activist group, has formed to call for an end to hostilities in Israel and Gaza. The group gathered on Oct. 21 and again on Sunday at Long Wharf in Sag Harbor and plans to continue doing so on Sundays at 3 p.m.
“We join in chorus with hundreds of thousands worldwide who grieve for all lives lost and endangered in Gaza and Israel beginning Oct. 7th, 2023,” reads a statement by the group. “We grieve the agony of occupation for Palestinian people for 75 years. We are watching from a distance as a genocide unfolds in Gaza as we worry for the hostages and their families.”
The group calls on the United States to “commit to working for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, to support resolutions for a ‘humanitarian pause,’ for restoration of full communication and access to humanitarian aid, to honor U.N. initiatives and channels. Without a ceasefire nothing else can happen.”
The group has invited members of the community to join its gatherings, and has asked participants to wear black.
The Islamist political and military organization Hamas, which governs Gaza, launched a terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, murdering some 1,400 Israelis and abducting more than 200 people, including Americans. The Gaza Health Ministry has said that more than 8,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since then, according to The Associated Press, as Israel subsequently invaded Gaza with the goal of eradicating Hamas.
The hostilities in the Middle East are the subject of protests and expressions of hatred around the United States, including in East Hampton Town: On Monday, antisemitic graffiti was discovered in several places in Montauk, which is covered elsewhere in this issue.
Kathryn Levy of East End for Ceasefire said on Tuesday that the group comprises old friends who are longtime advocates for peace. “Interestingly, the four people most directly involved in this discussion are Jewish, and it’s important to me for people to understand, and important in terms of fighting antisemitism, that a lot of Jews believe, as I do, that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid. Of course, we want the hostages released,” she said, adding a call for the release of Palestinians wrongly jailed in Israel, including “thousands rounded up since Oct. 7. I’m a real believer in the basic human rights of every one of our fellow human beings.”
There are extremists on both sides of the conflict, she said, but “the innocent people, particularly the children who are trapped in the middle of this, need to be treated with attention to their right to live.”
Ms. Levy said the reaction to the group’s demonstrations has been overwhelmingly positive. “I understand, crazy things are happening in America,” she said, but “in our still-very-nice village” of Sag Harbor, “I don’t feel I am being brave. I just feel like I’m being a human being.”
“We will offer resource materials and encourage small group gatherings to make phone calls and send emails to elected officials,” according to the group’s statement, which notes that the group is in alignment with Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that describes itself as leftists who “fight for the liberation of all people.” East End for Ceasefire also encourages humanitarian support through Middle East Children’s Alliance and Doctors Without Borders.
“We know that fear can stop us from acting,” the group’s statement continues. “We know fear is real and reverberates in multiple ways. And we know it can enable cruelty. We see Islamophobia and antisemitism on the rise. We believe we can’t look away in the face of this destruction.”
“We would love it if more people joined us,” Ms. Levy said. “I intend to continue working against the violence until the violence ends.”
