Mourn the Dead. Then Work For Peace.

Mourn the dead. Say their names aloud. Dror Khenin. Eitan Barak. Adar Bersano. Amotz Greenberg. Auda al-Wadj. Narakorn Kitiyangkul.Benaya Rubel. Bar Rahav. Oz Mandelovich. Sean Carmeli. Tzafrir Bar-Or. Tzvika Kaplan. Gilad Yacobi . Max Steinberg. Moshe Malko. Oron Shaul. Oren Simcha Noah. Ben Oanounou. Shon Mondshine. Daniel Pomerantz. Shachar Tase. Dolev Kidar. Nadav Goldmacher. Yuval Heiman. Baynesain Kasahun.Tal Yifrach. Yuval Dagan. Jordan Ben Simon. Oded Ben Sira. Ohad Shemesh. Evyatar Turgeman. Dmitri Levitas. Natan Cohen. Shahar Dauber. Li Mat. Paz Eliyahu. Yair Ashkenazy. Guy Levy. Guy Boyland. Amit Yeori. Gal Bason. Avraham Grintzvaig. Roy Peles. Mourn the solider whose family has no body to bury. Mourn the ones who will die tomorrow.

Mourn the 666 Palestinian civilian victims (80% of all Palestinians killed) that were killed in the first 19 days operation Protective Edge. Mourn the 194 Gazan children killed. The 107 women killed. Mourn the 25 members of the Abu Jamaa family that was wiped out. Mourn the 9 members of the al-Skafi Family. The seven members of the al-Kilani family. Mourn the ones that were warned and fled, only to meet their death on the run. Mourn the ones that were warned yet had no place to flee. Mourn the ones who were told by militants to remain in their homes despite the warnings. Mourn the ones unfortunate enough to have been in the vicinity of targeted militants.

There is no military solution to this protracted conflict. Missile attacks are not self-defense, no matter who is shooting them. Missiles shot by Israelis are not self-defense. Missiles shot by Palestinians are not self-defense. You cannot bomb away the hatred. You cannot bomb in the name of justice. Kill today’s militants, and tomorrow’s militants will grow up in the seeds of hatred you sow.

Israeli residents of the south should not have to live in their bomb shelters. Israeli’s should not have to live with the stress and uncertainty of the constant shelling. Israel’s should not wonder if they will be struck down by terror. Israeli’s should not have to wonder if their children will return home.

Gazans should not live under Hamas’ reign of terror. Neither should Gazans be subject to Israeli control by air, sea, and land on three sides. Gazans should not have their southern border controlled by Egypt. Gazans should not be dependent on Israel for their water, electricity and communications. Gazan’s should not have Israel decide how many truckloads of food to sell them, or how much electricity to supply. Gazan fishing should not be restricted to three nautical miles by a naval blockade. Gazan’s should not have to guess where the ‘buffer-zone’ is, and if they will be shot if they venture within 300 meters of the border of Israel. 35 % of Gaza’s agricultural land shouldn’t be forbidden territory.

This cycle of violence will not end until its root causes are addressed. Israel’s siege of Gaza must end. Terror against Israel must end. Mourn the dead, but act for peace. Ending this round of fighting without addressing Israel’s siege of Gaza and militant’s rocket fire against Israel just invites the next round of fighting. Work towards a just ceasefire peace that addresses the legitimate needs of both peoples.