RAMALLAH, April 24 (JMCC) - Combatants for Peace, a joint Israeli-Palestinian group, held a well-attended alternative memorial day ceremony at Tel Aviv's port Tuesday,
reports Haaretz.
Last night, Combatants for Peace staged their seventh annual alternative Memorial Day ceremony, to which bereaved families were invited, including 40 Palestinian ones. Curiously, the popular event - that was relocated from the compact Tmuna theater to the bigger Hangar 11 at Tel Aviv's port - was met with Israeli opposition. Yisrael Beiteinu MK Lia Shemtov called to cancel it, and a Facebook group was opened against it.
Naomi Enoch of Otzar Mifalei Yam, which operates the Tel Aviv port, said the company was opposed to the event but its hand were tied. As a governmental body we reject any attempt to put dead IDF soldiers and Palestinian victims on a par as damaging the memory of the fallen soldiers, she said. But the event was held in a private capacity, and we were legally unable to prevent it from happening.
The event comes as other joint Palestinian-Israeli organizations are finding it hard to agree on activities or attract participants, the article stated.