“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
– Psalm 13:2-3
We speak today not as political actors, but as practitioners of shared mourning, concern, and reckoning. At Partners in Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA) we work with people across painful divides, where histories of trauma and present-day violence collide.
The new conflagration in the Middle East, the Israel-Iran-US war, has attracted all available attention. Yet at the same time, the war in Gaza is continuing, raising disturbing questions and deep concerns about its aims and justification, and the continuing toll of casualties incurred. We at PCCA feel compelled to call attention to it lest it be sidelined and to reiterate our stance about this unfolding catastrophe.
In January 2024, PCCA issued a statement emphasizing our unwavering commitment to human rights, equality, and the necessity of recognizing and addressing the suffering of all people, regardless of their background. As we find ourselves in June 2025, there are new, acutely dangerous conditions which dominate our attention, worries and concern. Yet the ongoing war in Gaza continues to inflict atrocities on the civilian Palestinian population, inviting us to speak out.
The war in Gaza has continued far too long, compounding human suffering and testing our shared capacity for hope, compassion, and justice. It has unendingly delayed the return of all Israeli hostages.
As we witness the repeated cycles of violence, we echo the psalmist’s cry of “How long?” We acknowledge the deep wounds and atrocities inflicted on countless lives and the profound sense of abandonment and despair experienced by many, echoing the psalmist’s lament.
PCCA represents the resolve to hold on to trust and a steadfast commitment to the sanctity of every human life, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
We reaffirm these essential certainties:
- Every human life is precious and must be treated with dignity and respect, whether in Gaza, Israel, or anywhere in the world.
- The right to security and freedom from terror is universal, and appropriate international law must remain our guiding principle in holding all parties
- We reject all forms of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism and any attempt to dehumanize others in the name of ideology, nationalism, or revenge as morally objectionable, socially detrimental, and endangering culture and civilization.
Authoritarian leadership represents a persistent and dangerous threat to humanity. Authoritarian regimes thrive on polarization and scapegoating, presenting complex conflicts in oversimplified, us-versus-them terms. They repress dissent and eliminate safe spaces for critical dialogue and nuanced perspectives. In Gaza, the grip of Hamas has stifled internal political freedom and pluralism. Many in Israel are deeply and desperately opposed to the current government’s increasing authoritarianism and its handling of the liberation of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
These statements might be repeating the obvious. But then we ask ourselves why these voices are not heard more often and more clearly?
The questions posed in our January 2024 statement continue to guide our work:
- How can we listen respectfully and committedly to the Other, staying with and bearing their agony, without denying or mitigating one’s own agony along the way?
- How is it possible to leave equal space for both, since not doing so prejudges worthiness?
- How to work with opposing parties of a conflict, however many there might be, without making compassion a scarce resource to be competed for along the way?
- How can we acknowledge the narrative of the Other as being `valid´, although it contradicts and threatens my own narrative?
- And more importantly, how to stay humble and avoid hubris along the way?
Working in the presence of the Other – no matter how extreme or radical this Other might be – remains at the core of our method. We seek to understand the root causes that feed extremist ideological positions of all kinds: Islamic fundamentalism that supports violence in the name of Islam; radical orthodox-Jewish beliefs used by Israeli government members and settler-groups to justify what international observers fear might lead to the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza strip; messianic Christian dogmatic support for eschatological endings; as well as any dogmatic right- or left-wing political mind-sets, whether in Europe, the US or anywhere else. We work with our strongly diversified ethnic, religious and national backgrounds and what these represent in the world, and we are enabled to do our work by embracing each other’s differences.
In this spirit, we call on all parties, the Israeli government and the international community, to redouble their efforts to find pathways to peace. Stop the violence, free all Israeli hostages, provide humanitarian relief, and support a just and durable coexistence.
We also remain committed to being present in what comes after. When weapons fall silent, the hard work begins—rebuilding trust, detoxifying divisions, healing communities, and creating space for voices long silenced. We pledge to continue pursuing these aims and seeking partners to carry it forth.
Partners in Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA)
June 25, 2025