Dear Friends:
I want to thank everyone for your patience. We finally have the videos and media of the 2024 Interfaith Solidarity March LA, along with the panel discussion on the crisis in Gaza and Israel, up on our website and YouTube channel. We have posted a highlights reel as well as the full 3 hour and 45 minute video of the full event. We also have a short promotional video that was shot by a separate crew of our allies and supporters.
By all accounts, the march was a major success and everyone was safe and enjoyed collegial time with people of like minds. The Islamic Center of Southern California as well as the Sikhs of LA both contributed water, snacks, and meals for the sustenance of our marchers. The panel discussion itself, I will grant was a very difficult and moving event. Granted, the mood was tense, and emotions ran high, as we included people of varying and often completely different perspectives. But this was among the first of any public discussions or panels about the current crisis in Gaza, Palestine, and Israel. With the exception of one minor outburst by an audience member towards the very end of the event, all our attendees showed respect for each other, and I believe that we made inroads toward greater understanding between those of entirely different perspectives of the war, seeking to establish mutual respect for each other’s humanity, heritage, and identity.
Several key members of the community approached me after the event, indicating how important they felt this was. As a perfectionist, I felt the pangs of guilt for every shortcoming of the event, every missed opportunity for progress and bridgebuilding, but hearing such positive reinforcement from several key stake holders of their communities truly helped assure me that this event was the right thing to do. Over the last ten months, I have sought numerous ways to help out, to change hearts and minds, and move the needle toward peace, beginning with a lasting cease-fire. One may ask what a small group of people in Southern California can do? Many of us know politicians and elected officials as well as faith leaders of great renown. The more we can do to remind them of the shared humanity of all sides of this crisis, the more we can move that needle. The interfaith movement is not without a voice. Events like this one are the bread and butter of that process.
With that said, as you know, we are an all-volunteer organization, and sometimes things move slowly. But we do our best with very little. Much of our resources for these events are covered by the constituent communities and houses of worship that host the event. But we still have fringe costs such as videography and publicity, as well as insurance, bookkeeping, and the like. So I ask you to please give generously if you have not already done so this year. I would dare say that the funds you put into an organization like this that is educating about the shared humanity of the world’s faiths and the ethnic communities that gave birth to them, is a better investment than giving it to a politician who may not even win, and even if they do, their ability to make real and lasting changes is highly limited. Whereas every dollar you give to the IRTPJ has a profound effect on the world around us and no one even needs to win an election!
Blessings,
L. Arik Greenberg
