NEW YORK: Organisers displayed the handwritten names of more than 20,000 Palestinian children reported killed in Gaza on a 100-metre-long shroud at the UN Church Center in New York, according to Palestine News.
Doctors Against Genocide, Clergy Against Genocide in the United States, Justice for All and several other groups organised the memorial as the UN General Assembly convened in New York.
The ceremony included a recitation from the Holy Quran and an interfaith gathering to commemorate children killed during the Gaza conflict.
Organisers Seek to Preserve Individual Identities
The coalition organised the initiative under the message “Not a number, but a name,” saying it wanted to preserve the identities and memories of individual children rather than allow victims to be represented solely through casualty statistics.
Furthermore, organisers used the event to call for an end to Israeli military operations in Gaza and accountability for alleged war crimes.
The supplied report described more than 20,000 Palestinian children as having been killed in the enclave. The article did not provide a separate source or methodology for independently verifying that figure.
Memorial Inspired by Similar Initiative in Rome
Meanwhile, organisers said the New York display drew inspiration from a memorial previously created in Rome by Pastors Against Genocide.
According to the report, that initiative itself reflected accounts from Gaza of parents writing their children’s names on their bodies so authorities could identify them if they were killed during attacks on residential areas.
The New York ceremony brought the memorial campaign alongside the opening of the UN General Assembly, placing attention on Gaza’s civilian casualties as world leaders and diplomats gathered for international discussions.
Through the handwritten display, participating organisations said they wanted each child’s name to remain visible as an individual human loss rather than simply becoming part of an overall casualty count.
