The past week’s war in Gaza has added more sorrow to a year of conflict across the globe. It has filled our world with grief and sorrow, anger and fear. We mourn the those slaughtered in the terrorist attack and those innocent victims both Israeli and Palestinian, who like so many victims of war, are caught in the middle.

Today we stand with the people of Israel who have struggled for centuries to be free--and we stand with the people of Palestine, who continue to live under intolerable oppression.

As humans, we must acknowledge that we are dependent on one another. As survivors, we know only too well that retribution and violence do not heal.