Harris plants tree at home in memory of Oct. 7 victims, vows to never forget

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff plant a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President's Residence in Washington on October 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on Israel. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff plant a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President's Residence in Washington on October 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on Israel. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff plant a pomegranate tree at their official residence, in memory of the victims of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught on the one-year anniversary of the attack.

In remarks before the tree-planting, Harris notes that the victims include 46 Americans, among them a singer from Missouri who died shielding her son from bullets, an academic and peace activist who studied in Seattle and was the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and a dancer from California who was killed at the Nova music festival alongside her fiancée.

“Today, I know many Jews will be reciting and reflecting on the Jewish prayer for mourning, the Kaddish. The words of the prayer are not about death. It is a prayer about our enduring belief in God, even in our darkest moments. So as we reflect on the horrors of October 7, let us please be reminded that we cannot lose faith.”

Harris pledges never to forget October 7, to work to ensure that such an attack can never be repeated and to ensure that Israel and Jewish people globally are secure.

She reiterates her commitment to releasing the hostages through a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and to relieve the “immense suffering” of Palestinians living there.

The vice president says a pomegranate tree was chosen because it symbolizes hope and righteousness in Judaism. The tree will be a reminder to her successors of the strength and endurance of the Jewish people, she adds.

Speaking briefly after Harris, Emhoff says he is still “filled with pain and despair” over what unfolded one year ago. “October 7 hit us hard as a community, and it still does,” he says noting that he constantly thinks about the hostages and is praying for their return and for the war to end.

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