The Peace Bus from Jerusalem to the Gaza Border - 6th Journey! DAY OF MOURNING - Palestinian-Israeli / Israeli-Palestinian Day of Commemoration of Those Perished in the War FRIDAY, 29.08, 8-20 (12 hours of memory: Journey from Past to the Future) Jerusalem-Bethlehem-Tel Aviv-Sderot

On Friday, 29.08, starting in Jerusalem at 8.00 am , we, citizens of Israel and Palestine, will meet each other in our grief, mourning for all those, Palestinians and Israelis, who died in this war. We firmly call on both sides to the conflict never again to use war as a method of solving conflicts, to seriously seek a long-term peace solution suitable for both sides. In the presence of the media, which we will inform in advance, we will light candles and lay down flowers, rehan (basilicum), olive branches and henna powder - as as to create symbolic memorial sites commemorating all human beings who perished as victims of the long-lasting, devastating conflict. We will read out the names of the children who died in this war (hundreds of Palestinian children and a single Israeli child), whose lives were irrevocably shattered. Numbers are not enough - we need to give names to these numbers. We seek to express our desire to live together in peace and to have a future. We say: NEVER AGAIN WAR! WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS, WE ALL SUFFER!

PROGRAM:

The Peace Flower Bus organized this event with support of the Peace Movement on both sides of the fence. You can join each event in your own city or join the entire journey.

1. Jerusalem, Gan Hapoamon (Bell Liberty Garden), 8.00 am: our journey starts in decorating the Peace Bus with fresh flowers and artwork.
2. Jerusalem, Gan Hapoamon (Bell Liberty Garden), 9.00 am: leaving Gan Hapoamon in the Peace Bus towards the Zahal Square (between The Jerusalem Town Hall and the Jaffa Gate of the Old City)
3. Jerusalem: Zahal Square, 9:30 am: Beginning of the commemoration to victims of the war. Please bring candles (with protection from the wind), olive branches, flowers, rehan (basil), hena powder (Muslim custom to commemorate perished children). We will wear black and modest clothes in token of mourning. You can write your own speech and speak out in their memory. PAST
4. Jerusalem: Zahal Square, 10:15 am: leaving Jerusalem towards Bethlehem.
5. Bethlehem: Nativity Church Square, 11:00 am: We will cross the physical and mental border between Israel to Palestine. Israelis will reach out a hand of peace to Palestinians. Together we will have a moment of silence for those who perished, we will hold a memorial ceremony (as detailed above), speak out our prayers, listen to the whisper of the wind. We will talk about how to help families in their loss and how to organize a campaign to help those left in need after the war. PRESENCE
6. Bethlehem: Square of the Nativity Church, 11:45 am: going to Tel Aviv
7. Tel Aviv: Rabin Square, 13:30 pm: In the focal point of the Israeli Peace Movement, we will stand symbolic guard for Human Rights and Coexistence. We will hold a memorial ceremony (as described above) and talk about the future of the peace movement. We will write postcards about what PEACE means for each one of us, tie them to balloons and release these balloons into the sky. FUTURE
8. Tel Aviv: Rabin square, 14:15 pm: leaving Tel Aviv towards Sderot
9. Sderot, 16:00 pm: the Peace Bus meets every Friday with people from the Gaza Border communities in the South Israel. We will hold a meeting with families who live near the border. The meeting will take place in Sderot, with many families from neighboring communities joining in. The purpose of this visit is to understand what it means to live in a war-torn zone and why these families do not want another war.

Afterwards we will lay down flowers near the Erez Border Crossing to Gaza, remembering the very place where hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis lost their lives.

10. Sderot, 17:30 pm: leaving back to Tel Aviv (arrival time 19:00) and Jerusalem (arrival time 20:00)

PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE! Recommended donation for participation is 100 NIS to cover expenses of the journey (the more participants, the less each one will need to pay)

ABOUT THE PEACE BUS

The Peace Bus is a tribute to the Peace Boat of Abie Nathan, who decades ago went with a boat full of flowers towards Egypt - at the time an enemy country with which a peace treaty was later signed. The bus is leaving from Jerusalem every Friday on its Peace mission, going through Israel, visiting and connecting peace-seeking organizations and movements, collecting humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and concluding our journey on the same day at the Gaza border (or at least, as close to the border as we can go) laying down flowers to commemorate all those who perished in the conflict . We visit families in the conflict region, who seek to stop the war, but whose voice is silenced and who are apprehensive about openly expressing their views.

Our vision is to create a reality where Palestinians and Israelis can live in Peace and Dignity. We do not have ready recipes. But what we know for certain is: we can not continue hating, fighting, killing each other. In 66 years of war, we could not achieve any permanent solution - we believe that it's time to try a different path. On the Peace Bus we promote principles of tolerance, understanding and non-violence. People of all religions, colors, nations, genders come together in an attitude of love, to see what the media is trying to hide away from us: the true face of the so-called "enemy". In the eyes of a child, Israeli or Palestinian alike, you could discover innocence, and remember having once been a child yourself, free from prejudices and hate. In this moment we mourn for all those who perished during this unnecessary and tragic conflict: not just in the current round of fighting, but for all the innocents who lost their lives in the war of hatred. We want to see the perspectives of both sides: the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike. We are all human beings who happened to be raised as enemies, and this is a real tragedy. We can not live in peace, as long as other side is suffering. Therefore, the PEACE IS OUR COMMON GOAL!

Peace Bus Projece busofpeace@gmail.com facebook: אוטובוס השלום ממשיך בדרך! THE PEACE BUS بَاص السَلام https://www.facebook.com/events/678843702197246/ http://tv.social.org.il/politics/2014/08/19/bus-of-peace Phone: 0586566767

Donations: "HELP CIVILIANS IN GAZA" and "SUPPORT THE PEACE BUS" https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-bus-peace-4rd-jorney/x/8356905 (This is a crowd-finding website)

The mission of the Peace Bus is to proclaim non-violence and link up the peace movement in a struggle for a long-lasting peace. During this past war, the peace movement was not in a condition to seriously challenge the fierce pro-war attitude on both sides. There might well be a next time, so we need to be ready...