Walk for Gaza CT, Day 1, May 23, Beinecke Plaza, Yale University, New Haven, CT

This past Lent, Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, a global network of autonomous Christian groups, inspired people around the world to walk the linear distance of the Gaza strip, about 25 miles, in a prayerful show of solidarity. Over 140 walks were held at that time, in 20 or more countries. The season of Lent was just the start. Since then, similar walks have continued to be organized, customized for specific locations, offering a powerful way to engage communities in stepping out, literally, and being visible as justice-seeking advocates.

Walk for Gaza CT offers one such example. Members from five southern Connecticut UCC congregations, joined other activists, in organizing a three-day walk, first in New Haven, next in Bridgeport, and then along the CT shoreline, May 23-25, that cumulatively covered 25 miles. The Walk included stops along the way, at two Congressional district offices, three hospitals, Yale University’s investment office, and also Beinecke Plaza, the site of the Yale student encampment. At each stop, there were speakers -- for example, students and doctors -- who described the wanton and systematic destruction and decimation of Gaza, in specific its medical and educational infrastructures.

The Walk’s final stop was at Hammonassett Beach State Park. 

There many walkers flew kites in the spirit of the poem, If I Must Die, by Palestinian writer and activist Refaat Alareer, who this past December was targeted and killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike. Scheduled during the Memorial Day weekend, Walk for Gaza CT was a procession of lament, grieving the mind-numbing thousands of people who have died in the violence over these past eight months. It was also a call for action with demands for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to all U.S. military and financial aid to the Israeli government for the prosecution of its genocide against Palestine, and the safety and negotiated release of hostages on both sides. In addition, the Walk raised over $7,200 for UNRWA, far exceeding the Walk’s $5,000 goal.

People, of all ages, well over a hundred, participated, walking portions or all 25 miles of the distance. UCC folks who helped with the organizing and/or walked were from First Congregational Church, Guilford; First Church, Middletown; First Congregational Church, Madison; First Congregational Church, Old Lyme, and Shalom UCC, New Haven.

“It was powerful each day to be walking alongside such a diverse group of individuals, families and community activists including the Veterans for Peace. Most pedestrians and motorists raised their fists or beeped their horns in support of our peaceful nonviolent march,” observed the Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager, senior associate minister, Old Lyme.  "On the last day, as we passed breathtaking views of Long Island Sound and pastoral scenes, it was painful to be imagining, in contrast, the devastation and suffering Palestinians in Gaza are enduring in real time. We can and must do much more and continue praying with our feet, as Rabbi Abraham Heschel famously said.”

Solidarity walks and pilgrimages are gaining momentum. Following its inaugural Lenten pilgrimage, Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage is now launching a phase two: Pilgrimage to Places of Power. To learn more about this second phase of the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, go here. If you scroll down on that landing page, you will find the logos of the many organizations, including UCC PIN, that have endorsed this initiative.

This is a section of the UCCPIN June 2024 E-Newsletter. To read the entire newsletter, follow this link.