Ohio Religious Leaders Gather in Cincinnati to Call for Ceasefire in Gaza [PHOTOS]

More than 100 people gathered in Washington Park for what became an emotional event to “call for peace and express solidarity with the innocent families and children of Gaza who have suffered immeasurable losses,” according to the event’s description on Facebook. The peace vigil, which took place on Dec. 17, was organized by the Ohio chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations and the Cincinnati chapter of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The event was also supported by Students for Justice in Palestine, a University of Cincinnati group that helped organize the National March to Free Palestine in Cincinnati’s Ziegler Park on Nov. 4.

Cincinnati City Council Member Meeka Owens was in attendance and event speakers included Aya Hijji, a Palestinian-American who spoke about the loss of her family members in Gaza, and Joel Pruce, a Jewish-American professor of human rights studies at the University of Dayton and grandson of a Holocaust survivor. During the event, members of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths held a group prayer, asking for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and peace in Gaza.

Keep scrolling for everything CityBeat spotted during the peace vigil.

Photos by Aidan Mahoney