On 21 September 2025, on the occasion of the International Day of Peace, over a thousand people took part in the Mourning Tent initiative at the Garden of the Righteous in Milan, organised by the Gariwo Foundation in collaboration with IPSIA ACLI, the Centro di Nonviolenza Attiva, and the Italian Association of Friends of Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam.
The Tent, inspired by the one created in the binational village of Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam, welcomed without pause visitors of all ages who chose to enter barefoot and in silence to listen to the names of Palestinian girls and boys killed in the last two years, as well as those of Israelis who died on 7 October. An audio recording of over 19 hours, which never starts again from the beginning, transformed the space into a place of shared memory, silence, and reflection.
The morning at the cinema
The day opened at the Anteo Palazzo del Cinema, with a free screening of There is another way, a film dedicated to the Combatants for Peace, the joint Israeli-Palestinian movement that since 2006 has been promoting nonviolence and dialogue.
Also present at the screening were Irit Hakim and Aisha Khatib, CfP coordinators. They reminded the audience that “peace cannot be achieved without an end to the occupation, but at the same time it is essential to give visibility and support to all voices – Israeli and Palestinian – who choose dialogue and nonviolence.” A message that set the tone of listening and exchange later experienced in the afternoon at the Garden.
Voices of the afternoon
Beauty, contemplation, and human richness accompanied the afternoon at the Garden. The journey began right at the north entrance of the Garden, where guests could scan a QR code and listen to testimonies from the Middle East, while viewing the images of a photo exhibition curated by Pressenza. Among the trees, sounds, and pictures, visitors then reached the heart of the Garden. There, hundreds upon hundreds of people stopped at the Mourning Tent, while the names of the children punctuated the shared reflection.
Archbishop Mario Delpini left a message in the book of condolences: “What will those children, whom the absurdity of war condemned to death, do? I believe they will be like angels speaking into the ears of parents and murderers, to whisper words of peace and reproach.”
Gariwo’s president Gabriele Nissim forcefully recalled: “Injustice is not fought, here, with new hatred. Injustice is fought by rebuilding hope. Not by amplifying conflicts.”
One of the most meaningful moments was precisely the meeting in the Tent between Archbishop Delpini, Gariwo’s president Nissim, COREIS Secretary General Mustafa Abd al-Adil, and Combatants for Peace activists Irit Hakim and Aisha Khatib. A simple yet highly symbolic gesture: in that space of shared mourning, representatives of different faiths, cultures, and paths stood side by side, united by the will to affirm the dignity of every life and the necessity of dialogue.
Debate, readings, and music
Words took centre stage in intense moments.
Khader Tamimi, president of the Palestinian Community of Lombardy, writer Widad Tamimi, essayist and art critic Stefano Levi Della Torre, and Francesco M. Cataluccio, editorial director of the Gariwo Foundation, engaged in a dialogue – moderated by Michele Migone – on future prospects for peace.
Aglaia Zannetti and Silvano Piccardi, presented by Sarah Mustafa, read poems and excerpts by Palestinian and Israeli authors. Actress Arianna Scommegna performed Bruno Hussar’s text on Dumia, the House of Silence, while the Abdo Buda Marconi Trio intertwined Kurdish, Jewish, and popular Italian sounds in the name of shared Mediterranean roots.
Actor Claudio Bisio read contemporary poems written in Gaza and an excerpt from Apeirogon by Colum McCann, dedicated to two real figures: Rami Elhanan, Israeli, and Bassam Aramin, Palestinian, both fathers who lost a daughter and chose to meet and, starting from pain, build together a path of peace.
Gianfelice Facchetti gave voice to Hope, a poem by Palestinian poet Khalil Mustafa written in 1984, and to a piece by his daughter Sarah Mustafa, writer, who forty years later carries forward the same idea of denunciation and dialogue, in a handover between generations.
Workshops and tables for nonviolence
Also highly attended was the peace education workshop for girls and boys, organised by the Centro di Nonviolenza Attiva and the Friends of Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam. The participants had the chance to play and talk with the educators, discussing peace and dialogue. Meanwhile, throughout the afternoon, the volunteers of the Biblioteca della Nonviolenza welcomed the youngest children on a colourful carpet, where they could leaf through the books available, read or be read to, and listen to extraordinary stories, all while enjoying the beautiful atmosphere of the Garden of the Righteous.
At the same time, the associations present – from the Community of Sant’Egidio to the Waldensian Church of Milan, from Caritas Ambrosiana to the European Movement for Nonviolent Action, together with the Table for Nonviolence of Municipality 3 of Milan and many others – took part in the Participatory Conversation Tables to get to know one another and to start building a common ground for dialogue and for possible ways of countering the hatred and violence that, unfortunately, we all experience daily. The associations’ meeting at the conversation tables on 21 September was only the first step. By the end of October, in fact, they will gather again to continue working together.
Testimonies of those who live peace every day
“This initiative – emphasised Archbishop Delpini – allows us to express in a choral way what many feel: we are not individuals regretting how wrong the world is, but a people striving to mend it and make it better.”
The moving words of Irit Hakim and Aisha Khatib and, before them, of Noam Pupko and Issam Sabella (Rondine Cittadella della Pace) closed the day with a clear message: “There is another way.” And it is the way that – even while passing through denunciation and the “recognition of Palestine,” as president Nissim said – cannot ignore dialogue, acceptance, and mutual recognition.
The large participation showed that, even in Milan, there is a need to mend fractures and divisions. “We must not be fans of one side or the other – recalled Nissim – but fans of the people who struggle against violence.”
The Mourning Tent thus becomes a concrete sign, born from civil society, to say enough to the spiral of hatred and to build together a perspective of dialogue. A commitment that Gariwo will carry forward also on the next Day of the Righteous in 2026, when figures who dedicated their lives to the pursuit of dialogue and peace will be honoured.
