'Selfless and strong': memorial honours World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Gaza

Source: The Guardian/AP

Thu 25 Apr 2024 23.09 EDT


The seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli airstrikes represented the “best of humanity” and risked everything “to feed people they did not know and will never meet,” José Andrés, the celebrity chef who founded the organisation, told mourners on Thursday.

Speaking at Washington National Cathedral to those gathered to honour the aid workers, Andrés said there was no excuse for the killings and renewed calls for an investigation into the deaths.

“The seven souls we mourn today were there so that hungry people could eat,” Andrés said, reading aloud their names: Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Britons John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson; dual US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger; Australian Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom; and Polish citizen Damiam Sobol.

“Their examples should inspire us to do better, to be better,” he said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/26/world-central-kitchen-workers-killed-gaza-war-palestine-memorital