On September 21, in the heart of Milan, a symbolic place like the Garden of the Giusti will host an experience that intertwines memory, pain and hope. On the occasion of the International Day of Peacethe Gariwo Foundation and numerous associative realities propose the Mourning curtaina space suspended over time to stop, listen, share. The initiative was born from a simple and radical belief: peace cannot be born without recognizing the suffering of the other, without returning a face and a name to the innocent victims.
Inside the tent – called in Hebrew Ohel Avelim and in Arabic Beit al -”azza – a long list of names will resonate: over 19 hours of recordings with the voices of Palestinian children killed in the last two years and of the Israeli ones who died on 7 October. No speech, no comments. Only names. To mark, like a secular and universal rosary, the human price of a war that continues to bloody the Middle East.
Those who enter can stop for two, five, ten minutes, or all the time he will hear necessary. Inside there will be no debates or slogans, but the essential: silence, meditation, the possibility of tuning itself with the beat of one’s heart.
A path between memory and art
The mourning tent will be at the center of a path that will cross the entire garden of the righteous, with installations and artistic languages. At the entrance, a QR code will allow you to listen to small headphones; Among the branches of the trees, photographs curated by the pressure agency will show the faces of who, in the Middle East, continues to fight for coexistence.
During the afternoon, from 3pm, writers, actors, directors and musicians – from Stefano Levi of the Tower to Widad Tamimi, from Silvano Piccardi to Arianna bets, up to the trio Abdo Buda Marconi – will give life to readings, reflections and artistic performances. Space also to the little ones, with peace education workshops organized by the center of active nonviolence and by the Amici di Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam association.
At 17:30, protagonists of the Milanese cultural scene – including Claudio Bisio, Helena Janeczek and Gianfelice Facchetti – will read texts by Palestinian authors written in the last two years. Finally, at 18:00, the most intense moment: the testimonies of young trained a Rondine Citadel of Peace and above all those of Irit Hakim And Aisha Khatibexponents of the joint movement Combatant for PeaceIsraelis and Palestinians who have chosen non -violence as the only way. The day will already start in the morning, at 11, with the free screening at the Anteo cinema of There is another Waydocumentary that tells the story of “peace fighters”: former enemies capable of imagining a common future.
Gariwo, the righteous and the active memory
Around Gariwo, promoter of the event, a very wide network of reality has been collected: ACLI, Caritas Ambrosiana, Community of Sant’Egidio, Emergency, Human Rights Festival, Valdese Church of Milan and many other associations and movements, local and national. All called not only to participate, but also to a discussion table to develop shared strategies in favor of dialogue and nonviolence.
The president of Gariwo, Gabriele Nissim, wanted to underline the sense of the initiative with clear words: “We must stop the continuous carnage of the citizens and the towns of Gaza, the daily movement of a population treated as a flock, the destruction of the houses, the bombings on hospitals, the massacres of children and girls, as well as the captivity of the hostages. Those who enter the tent of mourning will think of a story, and this proximity must become personal commitment to ask for the silence of weapons and the end of this human madness ».
To understand the meaning of this initiative you must look at the story of Gariwo. Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide It is the acronym with which, in 1999, Gabriele Nissim, Pietro Kuciukian, Ulianova Radice and Anna Maria Samuelli founded a reality dedicated to spreading the stories of Righteous: Men and Women who, in contexts of violence and persecution, have had the courage to oppose, save lives, testify possible humanity.
The first Garden of the righteous in the world It was inaugurated in Milan in 2003, in collaboration with the Municipality. Since then, the model has spread: today there are over 300 throughout the planet, places where trees become living memory of gestures of courage. In 2012, thanks to Gariwo’s work, the European Parliament established the European day of the righteous (March 6), recognized as a civil anniversary in Italy since 2017.
The Foundation’s commitment is therefore twofold: to remember who opposed the evil, and build in this cultural tools to counter indifference. In this sense, the tent of mourning is fully inserted in its mission: showing that memory is never an end in itself, but becomes action, dialogue, possibility of change.
In a company addicted to the images of destruction that flow every day on the screens, stop to listen only to names – without images, without comments – is a countercurrent gesture. It is the way to return dignity to those who have been reduced to “collateral damage”. To remember that every killed child is not a number but an interrupted universe.
There Mourning curtain It will therefore be a place for everyone: believers and non -believers, long -term pacifists and simple citizens curious citizens, families and students. Because peace is not an abstract concept: it is a daily choice, which begins from recognizing the pain of others as part of one’s own.
Milan, with its garden of the righteous, thus prepares to become the capital of dialogue for a day. In a time marked by increasingly profound divisions, the initiative of Gariwo and the associations involved offers a different signal: the possibility that, within the mourning, a seed of peace can sprout.
Photo © Ansa and Gariwo
