On June 8th, 2025, join Interfaith4Ceasefire and IM4HI to join our pilgrimage in public witness for the Palestinian Right of Return to their homes and families and affirm the human right to remain, return, and migrate. We will journey 22 miles—from Alameda to Berkeley—in reverse of last year’s pilgrimage route, journeying in prayer and solidarity with the right to return, symbolizing the distance from Rafah to Gaza City. This effort is part of the global movement of Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimages that began last year and continues on. You can read more info about the movement here.
We gather in pilgrimage across spiritual and cultural communities because we uphold human life, dignity and mutual well-being as foundations of our spiritual beliefs. We recognize that the atrocities being carried out by U.S. tax dollars against the Palestinian people are intertwined with cruel and harmful U.S. policies of family separation, incarceration and criminalization that harms immigrants, unsheltered people, Indigenous, trans and BIPOC communities.
Event Details:
Date & Time: Sunday, June 8, 7 am – 7 pm
Location: East Bay, CA (Starting in Alameda, ending in Berkeley)
Distance: 22-mile journey, in 7 legs, symbolizing the distance from Rafah to Gaza City.
Registration:
To participate in the pilgrimage, volunteer, or attend, please register here.
*We are making prayer scarves and registering ensures we have one for you.
For more information, contact: interfaith4ceasefire@gmail.com
Purpose:
This daylong journey will include scheduled stops for collective prayer and action, with opportunities for participants to join for shorter legs. A route can be previewed here. Adjustments may still be made.
Objectives:
The Right of Return pilgrimage advocates for:
- The right to remain, the right of return, and the right to migrate
- Enduring and sustained ceasefire
- End the genocide, ethnic cleansing and torture of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank
- U.S. arms embargo on Israel
- Immediate flow of food, water, fuel and medical aid to Gaza and the West Bank
- Release of all hostages and political prisoners
- Ending repression against students and advocates for Palestinian freedom and justice
Proposed Schedule:
Our 22-mile collective pilgrimage will be broken up into the following legs, with meeting times and locations noted:
(Note: Schedule might be subject to minor changes. A final, confirmed route will be released the week of. We are encouraging the most participation for *Leg 3 and *Leg 6.)
| Leg | Arrival Time | Location | Estimated Length |
| 1 | 7 AM | Islamic Center of Alameda 901 Santa Clara Ave, Alameda | 3.3 miles |
| 2 | 9 AM | Fruitvale BART Plaza12th St and 34th Ave | 3.6 miles |
| 3* | 11:30 AM | Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California1433 Madison St, Oakland | 3.3 miles |
| 4 | 1:30 PM | Uptown Fender and Body, Sumud Mural401 26th St, Oakland | 2.2 miles |
| 5 | 3 PM | Heart and Soul Center of Light 5811 Racine St, Oakland | 2.1 miles |
| 6* | 4:30 PM | UC Berkeley – Sather Gate Sather Rd. Berkeley Campus | 2.9 miles |
| 7 | 6:30 PM | West Berkeley Shellmound Hearst and 4th St | 4.6 miles (Optional walk around Berkeley Marina to complete the 22 miles) |
Donations:
In various pilgrimage traditions, generosity is specifically invited and cultivated as a practice. Offerings are made to express gratitude, seal vows, or support the spiritual sites along the way and at the destination. Rooted in these traditions and in line with the global ceasefire pilgrimage call, we invite your generosity.
- For Individual Participants: Your donation via the pilgrimage will go entirely towards supporting the humanitarian needs in Gaza as well as honoring our intersectional partners of this pilgrimage. We encourage you to give as you can ($10 – $1,000).
- For Organizations and Community Groups: Sponsorships enable us to underwrite the costs of the pilgrimage. This will cost about $10,000 for materials for banners and art, security/medic materials, snacks and water, and stipends. We encourage you to give at a level that is most generous to you ($100, $300, $500, $1000).
- Donations can be made in two ways:
- By Check, written out to IM4HI (memo, “Right of Return Pilgrimage”) and mailed to: IM4HI, 310 8th Street, Suite #310, Oakland, CA 94607
- Online donations can be made here: bit.ly/I4Cgive (Please consider covering the 2% processing fee.)
Ways to Prepare:
- May 18, 3-6pm – De-escalation Training. REGISTRATION CLOSED
- May 29: Required Zoom Call (recording will be available to view if unable to join)
- 5-6 pm – Leg and Safety Leads
- 6-7 pm – All Safety Orientation
- 7-8:30 pm – ALL Participants
- June 1, 9am – 6pm: Art Build
- Specific skills needed: Seamsters, cutters, painters
- General helpers of all levels and no previous experience needed
- Come for any length of time
- Location: Richmond
Community Agreements:
The Pilgrimage is a sacred journey in solidarity with Palestinians and other targeted communities. In that spirit, we ask for agreement on the following:
- By registering for the 2025 Pilgrimage, I understand there will be trained safety teams, de-escalators and police liaisons. I agree to follow all safety instructions given by event organizers and safety team volunteers while participating in the Pilgrimage and to move in the spirit of non-violence. In case of need, I will reach out to one of these team members. We keep each other safe.
- I understand that this event is different from other marches and rallies. As an interfaith pilgrimage, we are choosing to map the right of return of Gazans and Palestinians to their homes and families, as we connect these issues to immigrant, indigenous, student, unhoused, transgender, and BIPOC communities here in the Bay Area.
- We will participate prayerfully knowing that we all pray in different ways – so we strive to be respectful and be on the journey together. We will find a way to support and care for one another.
- We we will come together to express love and solidarity, to embody remembrance and resistance, and to channel our grief and anger into action.
For more information, contact: interfaith4ceasefire@gmail.com
Participating Organizations
- Alameda Families and Friends for Collective Liberation
- Buena Vista United Methodist Church
- First Mennonite Church of San Francisco
- First Unitarian Church of Oakland
- Juju Foundation
- Kehilla Community Synagogue
- Jewish Voice for Peace
- Lakeshore Ave Baptist Church
- Oaklife Church
- Plymouth Jazz and Justice UCC
- San Jose Against War
- Skyline UCC
- St Columba