While organizers of a new local group, Ceasefire Now Roaring Fork Valley, choose to not share last names with press for concern of potential backlash, they’re more than happy to share their message of peace by calling for an immediate ceasefire within Israel’s Gaza strip.

Over 40 people gathered outside of the Cowen Center in Carbondale on Sunday for a silent peace march/vigil for Gaza. Prayers and speeches were made before people marched down Colorado Highway 133 with handmade signs and drums.

“We stand for all life, you can hold two truths at the same time,” said Nuni, one of the event organizers. “I can be in support of a ceasefire and not in support of Hamas. Those two can exist and do exist within me.”

Nuni said she had only just recently joined the group last week and was surprised to find as many like-minded people throughout the valley who, like her, were struggling with the amount of grief revolving around the Israel and Hamas conflict. She said as soon as she joined, members immediately began organizing Sunday’s March and trying to find ways of spreading awareness in a way that wouldn’t “create more division.”

“I think it was received pretty well, there were a lot of people that seemed to be in support of us today,” she said. “There were a couple of naysayers but that’s to be expected, especially with something that’s so polarized. If any of these people were to stop and talk to us, we would hope that we could help them have a different perspective on what it is we’re trying to do and what we stand for.”

People carried signs with various messages aimed at spotlighting the nearly 19,000 Palestinian civilians killed in Israel. But while the crowd was largely met with support expressed by cars honking and waving while passing by on the highway, not everyone was in support of the peace march and took to various methods to make their presence known, as well.

Valley high school students Lilu Illouz, Ruby Strait, and Shirel Coriet drove alongside the march with the Israel flag draped over the top and and side of their vehicle. The three girls said they weren’t there to taunt or cause issues, but rather felt it was important to make themselves known so that another side to the conversation was represented.

Each of the girls said they have family inside Israel, some of which have been taken captive, some killed, and some continuing to fight on the frontlines. The girls expressed their concerns over “picking sides” and said they’ve personally felt how “lack of education” can lead to harmful bias, even on a local level.

“My grandma and uncle were displaced out of fear,” Illouz said. “They came here for two months and it’s only gotten worse. We were the victims of a hate crime when we were in town in Aspen. It doesn’t make sense.”

Strait added, “I feel like I get attacked because there’s a lot of antisemitism now because the Israeli government is seen as a representation of Israelis and because I’m connected with that it’s like I have the same ideals of the government, which isn’t necessarily true. It’s just that I have family and it’s very relative to me.” 

“We’re not protesting against Palestine and Palestinians, we’re protesting against Hamas and the horrible war crimes being committed,” Coriet said.

Along with spreading their message of calling for an immediate ceasefire, organizers of Sunday’s march also encouraged and advocated for the use of 5 Calls, an app designed to make contacting local congress representatives quicker and more convenient. When asked what motivated the recently formed group, event organizer Caroline said it was largely fueled by “raw emotion.”

“We just needed to do something,” she said. “We all have a lot to say, but the main thing is that we are here for peace, we want there to be peace everywhere, we don’t want polarization … We’re still pretty new and we’re looking for new members to join us and lend their voices; let’s see what we can do.”

Event organizer Tracy said she chose to join the group after being “horrified” by the events in Israel on Oct. 7 and began educating herself on what she felt was factual evidence of the scenarios unfolding throughout the region. 

“I started to follow the independent journalists in Gaza that were showing firsthand what they were experiencing and I saw Mohammed Aalaloul lose four of his children early on,” she said. “Everyday the horrors were worse, I couldn’t turn away. I reached out to my representatives and to get the response back from them right away stating, ‘We stand with Israel, they have a right to defend themselves.’ I’m seeing that they’re