Since Feb. 24, community members across the Chicago western suburbs have been going for weekly walks to show solidarity with the people of Gaza. Four local women, including two Wheaton College alumni, were inspired to organize a ceasefire pilgrimage alongside other groups in more than 145 cities across 18 countries doing the same. Each group walks 25 miles — the length of Gaza — together through their local neighborhoods. The organizers said their goal is to stand in solidarity with Gazans who are suffering from the ongoing Israeli counteroffensive, give a platform to Gazan storytellers, and pray and meditate on the life and passion of Christ during Lent.
The four women – Christy Johnson ’06, Beth Shadid ’78, Susan Shadid, and Alli Bratten – were inspired to join this movement, and the local Wheaton group included a unique addition: an emphasis on Gazan stories. The 25-mile walk is split up over five Saturdays and will conclude on Mar. 23.
“I want to work with people who want to work together, and they see the dignity of everybody and they want to see that they can live in peace,” said Beth Shadid ‘78, one of the organizers. “That is hope to me.”
Approximately 30,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli air strikes, and the United Nations reports that 85 percent of residents have been displaced since Israeli Defense Forces launched a counteroffensive in response to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. Before the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Gaza was the most populous city in Palestine.
The Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage is a movement founded by James Harris, a Christian in New Zealand. According to the movement’s website, Harris began walking the distance of Gaza to raise money and rally prayers for relief. The Palestinian Churches in Australia organized a fundraiser for the movement, and other groups from the U.S., South Africa, Australia and New Zealand joined. Churches and organizations, including Bethlehem Bible College and the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East, have also come together to support the walk and show “nonviolent solidarity, not neutrality,” the website reads.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, 40 participants, including several children, gathered at Pleasant Hill Park in Winfield, about three miles northwest of campus. The group circled up and took turns saying their name and one or two words that described how they were feeling. The chilly air echoed with words like grief, resilience, solidarity, hope, hopelessness and disbelief. After everyone had shared, one of the organizers read a short poem written by a Palestinian currently in Gaza.
Linda Kateb, a Wheaton local and pilgrimage participant, said she experienced a mixture of feelings about the conflict.
“My heart was filled with resolve and resilience,” said Kateb, who is American. “The other R word is rage. Rage that my government has opted to kill people rather than look for a peaceful solution — when you think about the 75 years since Israel’s founding.”
Gaza has a long history of occupation. It was part of the Ottoman Empire from the Middle Ages to the 19th century before British troops took full control of the region during World War I. The land became the British Mandate of Palestine until it passed to Egyptian and then Israeli military rule. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, tens of thousands of Palestinians took refuge in Gaza.
Israel took control of Gaza after the Six-Day War in 1967 and although it withdrew its military in 2005, Israeli checkpoints throughout the occupied West Bank currently restrict the movement of Palestinians. Hamas, a militant group designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. government in 1997, wrested control of the strip from the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority and has been in power since 2007. The destruction of Israel as a nation is central to Hamas’ identity.
At the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, Gaza was inhabited by approximately 2.3 million Palestinians, most of them refugees. The UN estimates that over one million have been displaced due to Israeli bombings and lack of access to necessities like food, water and adequate shelter.
Two miles of the walk were conducted in near total silence — apart from a few supportive honks from passing cars and one occasion where an angry man on County Farm Road shouted at a woman holding a Palestinian flag. In general, organizers characterized their neighbors’ reactions as “largely positive.” The pilgrims were instructed to spend the first mile praying for mercy and the second practicing gratitude while appreciating the beauty of Winfield Mounds County Forest Preserve.
The organizers discussed their deep love for Palestinian culture. They described the ways Palestinian food, art and literature represent their “صمود (sumud),” Arabic for steadfast perseverance.
After a brief stop at the three mile mark, the group continued along the Prairie Path and began to talk amongst themselves — about the war, their grief, about their stories and sometimes, about nothing in particular.
Lizzie Jacobs, junior international relations major, went to the walk to express her own pro-ceasefire views and support friends who had personal connections to Gaza. She said she was moved by how many people from the community came to the walk.
“It was cool to see how many people were honking in support,” she said. “There were like two people that, like, yelled out slurs against Gaza, but the overwhelming feeling was in support, and I think most people felt that.”
By March 23, this group in Wheaton will have walked the length of Gaza. Other groups scattered globally decided to complete the full 25 miles in one day, including people in Ontario, Canada and Strasbourg, France. People on the walks often carry something to represent Palestine, including Palestinian flags or signs saying “Pilgrimage for Peace,” or “Ceasefire Now.”
Kateb said she was impressed by this gathering, but the group could be doing more to share it with others. “What impressed me about this gathering is that it was so peaceful and it was based on Palestinian stories. The narrative hasn’t gotten out, and I think we’ve got to do a better job at that.” Many other pilgrims expressed the same sentiment.
Organizers, including Johnson, said they incorporated Palestinian stories intentionally, and when people are able to perpetrate or propagate violence chronically and systemically, “what breaks through some of these barriers is people and their stories.”
