“Every life is a universe. And every life lost to this violence is a tragedy. Our moral compass must never waver. Our shared humanity is counting on it. Our destinies and freedoms are tied.”

Video | Photo

BOSTON – This evening, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined impacted families, faith leaders, and advocates to observe the anniversary of the horrific October 7, 2023 attack and commemorate the 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas, the hostages killed and those still kidnapped, and the over 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed by the Israeli military over the past year. Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement marking the anniversary of the attack earlier today.

At the Boston Public Garden, Rep. Pressley joined IfNotNow, faith leaders, and community advocates to deliver remarks at a memorial service to grieve lost Israeli, Palestinian, and Lebanese lives. At the Wang Theater, Rep. Pressley joined Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston for an Evening of Remembrance and Hope.

A transcript of her remarks at the memorial service is available below and full video is available here. For photo of the event, click here.

Transcript: Pressley’s Remarks at October 7^th Memorial Service for Israeli, Palestinian, and Lebanese Lives

October 7, 2024

Boston Public Garden

Good evening, movement family. And I mean it when I say family.

We’re all here because we recognize, as one human family, that our destinies are tied. 

Today is a heavy day. It is a solemn day. 

The grief and trauma run deep in our communities. 

I share in your heartbreak. Not only as your Congresswoman but as a woman of faith.

A faith that affords me clarity, anchoring, a faith that was gifted to me by my mother, now an ancestor.

My faith is enduring and abiding.

It is a faith in a power that is greater than me, that is greater than you, that is greater than all of us. 

It is a faith in the divine, a faith in humanity, a faith in the power and the practice of radical love.

As someone who grew up in a small storefront church, pastored by my grandfather, I believe in the power of prayer and tradition.

I believe that we are one human family, and I know that there is something truly powerful and transformative about the beloved, collective community that I’m bearing witness to in this moment.

A year ago today, October 7, tragedy befell us.

And today, 365 days later, we are still grieving.

Grieving for the nearly 1,200 Israeli lives stolen in the horrific attack conducted by Hamas militants.

Grieving for the over 250 Israeli hostages taken captive, torn away from their families, many of whom have been killed.

I am grieving for the loved ones and communities they leave behind. 

I am praying for the remaining hostages’ safe return.

As people of faith, we believe we are all God’s children—Palestinian, Israeli, Americans alike.

So I know we are all grieving. We have witnessed devastating losses and held space for the vulnerability that so many grapple with daily, including right here. 

And we grieve for the Israelis murdered, and for the tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza murdered by the Israeli military in the last year.

That number does not account for those still trapped under the rubble of their homes, their houses of worship, their hospitals.

That number does not account for those slowly dying of hunger, from infections and from the cold.

Horrific massacres. Severed limbs. Mass starvation. Forced displacement.

While bomb after bomb continue rain down. U.S. made bombs. Shameful.

Every life is a universe. We have been robbed of siblings and cousins, parents and elders, babies, people of flesh and bone who loved and were loved. 

Today, I’m thinking of a young woman I met named Sara. A brilliant creative with a penchant for black leather jackets like me. 

A 17-year-old from Gaza. She was severely burned and injured in an Israeli airstrike and her two younger brothers were killed.

I’m thinking of the children of a mother and father—peace activists—who were murdered by Hamas on their daily morning walk. 

The mother used to write haikus on her Facebook page. Her last poem was about a flower blooming with kindness and tolerance.

I sat in horror as American doctors described in graphic detail what they witnessed when they returned from a field hospital in Gaza treating pediatric patients. 

Every child deserves a future. These are babies who knew only pain for the few precious days and weeks that they were on this earth.

A five-year-old whose body was covered in burns. A seven-year-old with gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

No one should ever endure such horror and pain.

I am outraged and I am heartbroken by the genocide we are witnessing of the Palestinian people. Babies, children, elders, entire generations of Palestinian families decimated.

And as we reflect on the horrors of the past year, we must remember that are indeed one human family—regardless of religion or nation of birth—and our destinies are tied.

And if this past year has taught us anything, it is that death and destruction beget death and destruction.

Vengeance is not a foreign policy doctrine. And diplomacy is the only path forward.

Since that horrific day exactly one year ago, I have been clear that diplomacy and saving lives must be the priority.

As a policymaker, we have a moral, humanitarian, and righteous mandate to save lives.

And every action taken by policymakers—from Congress to the White House to the Knesset—should be in pursuit of de-escalation, saving lives, and preventing a broader regional war.

We need a permanent ceasefire now.

And we must bring every last hostage safely home.

We must stop sending bombs and bullets that will be used to kill women and children. Not another bomb.

And we must save lives. We must save lives. In Israel, in Gaza, in Lebanon, and all across the region.

Tonight, I am holding space for every Jewish, Muslim, Arab, American, Palestinian and Israeli person grieving today.

Every life is sacred. 

As Judaism reminds us, every life is a universe. And every life lost to this violence is a tragedy.

Our moral compass must never waver. 

Our shared humanity is counting on it. 

Our destinies and freedoms are tied.

So today and always, may we continue to pray for peace, to call for peace, to work for peace, to pursue a more just and equitable world.

Thank you all for the honor of sharing this sacred space with you today. 

It is an honor to be your interfaith sister in solidarity in the pursuit of justice and healing.

—

Since the horrific October 7^th attack, Congresswoman Pressley has consistently and stridently called for a ceasefire to save lives, return all hostages, and surge humanitarian aid to Gaza. To date, over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and over 100 hostages are still held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she called for urgent de-escalation in the Middle East and renewed her calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel to prevent a broader regional war. Rep. Pressley has also introduced an amendment to place a one-year moratorium on the transfer of offensive weapons to the Israeli military. 

Throughout the Israel and Hamas conflict, Rep. Pressley has been a vocal and consistent advocate of diplomacy, de-escalation, and saving lives.

• Rep. Pressley joined Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) and their colleagues on a resolution condemning Hamas’ brutal attack and hostage-taking, and demanding Hamas immediately release all hostages.
• Rep. Pressley joined Reps. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), James P. McGovern (MA-02), and 50 colleagues on a letter condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas on the people of Israel, calling for Israeli military operations to follow the rules of international humanitarian law, and continuing to work toward peace in the region.
• Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues in announcing a resolution urging the Biden Administration to call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, to send humanitarian aid and assistance to Gaza, and to save as many lives as possible. She later joined her colleagues and a multi-faith, multiracial coalition of faith leaders and organizers for a prayer and press conference to renew their calls for a ceasefire. Rep. Pressley also joined dozens of rabbis and Members of Congress for a press conference to renew calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
• Instead of attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress, Rep. Pressley spent the day centering people directly impacted by Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza
• Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate on college campuses.
• Rep. Pressley joined a coalition of nearly 100 interfaith clergy and faith leaders on a joint statement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
• Rep. Pressley joined Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and nearly 150 colleagues in urging the State Department to use all tools at its disposal help get Americans out of Israel and back home to the United States. She applauded the State Department for heeding her calls on October 12, 2023 and continues to press for the urgent evacuation of Americans in Gaza.
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement following the safe evacuation of Massachusetts constituents Wafaa and Abood Okal and their one-year-old Yousef from Gaza.
• Rep. Pressley and Rep. Jamie Raskin led a group of 60 House lawmakers in urging the State Department to affirm the United States’ strong opposition to the forced and permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and to support an increase in humanitarian aid to the region.
• Rep. Pressley joined Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Betty McCollum (MN-4) and 20 of their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden, asking him to support a bilateral ceasefire in Gaza to protect the one million children living there.
• Rep. Pressley joined a coalition of interfaith clergy and faith leaders for a vigil to mourn the tens of thousands of Palestinians, Israelis, and innocent civilians killed since October 7^th, and to renew calls for a ceasefire to save lives, return all hostages, and deliver humanitarian aid to the region.
• Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues at a press conference to condemn the Israeli government’s pending invasion of Rafah and continued her calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
• Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues in calling for full funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to provide urgent humanitarian relief to Gaza.
• Rep. Pressley joined Representatives Joaquín Castro, Jamie Raskin, Jan Schakowsky and 33 House Democrats to President Biden urging him to prevent an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.
• Rep. Pressley, amid heightened tensions in the region, delivered a floor speech in which she called for urgent de-escalation in the Middle East and renewed her calls for a ceasefire in Gaza to prevent a broader regional war.
• Rep. Pressley filed a pair of amendments to increase funding to global humanitarian assistance and place a one-year moratorium on the transfer of offensive weapons to the Israeli military. The amendments were not adopted in the final legislation. 
• Rep. Pressley voted against HR 8034 to send more offensive weapons and funding to the Israeli military, citing the Israeli military’s callous disregard for human life in Gaza and significant human rights violations.
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the peaceful student protests taking place in Massachusetts and across the country.
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement applauding the Boston City Council for passing a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
• Rep. Pressley joined Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04) and 54 additional lawmakers in calling on the Biden Administration to use all tools possible to dissuade the Israeli government from moving forward with an offensive invasion into Rafah.
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement in response to the escalating situation in the Middle East.

###