José Andrés praises World Central Kitchen workers murdered in Gaza

The interfaith program, which featured a performance by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, included hymns and prayers from Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions, as well as readings from the Quran and Bible.

A tearful Andrés, displaying grief very different from his usual exuberant personality, spoke against the backdrop of flags representing the victims’ countries of origin, reading the names of the dead and remembering each of their stories. “They were the best of humanity,” he said. “His example of him should inspire us to do better, to be better.”

Those honored were Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman of Great Britain, Jacob Flickinger of the United States and Canada, Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom of Australia, James Henderson of Great Britain, James Kirby of Great Britain and Damian Sobol of Poland.

Flat-screen televisions scattered throughout the space showed photographs of the deceased, some smiling for the cameras, others wearing WCK t-shirts; others showed them at work. The programs detailed their lives and their passion for helping people, the drive that had apparently brought each of them to war-torn Gaza.

“You will be remembered and revered for the kindness you have shown and the love you have given,” Susan Shankman, senior rabbi of the Hebrew Foundation of Washington, told the crowd. “They are shining examples of humanity.”

Andrés almost collapsed while paying tribute to Frankcom, who he said was “like a sister to me.” Sobol, he said, “had an unstoppable desire to help.” Andrés acknowledged the large number of humanitarian workers from other organizations who have also been killed and paid tribute to the WCK staff present, asking them to stand.

“You are our light in the darkness,” he said as the crowd erupted in sustained applause, a rare outburst in a sacred space.

Andrés also expressed his discontent with the official explanation of the attack. “I know there are many unanswered questions,” he said, including why the WCK was operating in Gaza. “Even one innocent life is too many.”

Still, through tears, he also expressed continued dedication to his organization’s mission. “We take risks because we want to change the world,” she said. “Food is a universal human right: feeding each other, cooking and eating together is what makes us human. “A plate of food is a plate of hope, a message that someone, somewhere, cares about you.”

Seated next to Emhoff were Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Deputy Secretary of State Julieta Valls Noyes. Diplomats from 30 countries attended, including the United States and Canada, organizers said.

The funeral was no ordinary affair, as evidenced by the high-profile attendees and setting, the site of state funerals in whose pews foreign leaders and American statesmen have sat, and the phalanx of media perched on a balcony top, with cameras and eyes fixed on the crowd below. But the deaths of those remembered have been felt around the world.

The April 1 attack on the convoy carrying the seven aid workers quickly sparked international outrage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as “unintentional” and said Israeli authorities were “investigating the matter thoroughly” and would do “everything possible to prevent this from happening again.”

Four days later, the Israeli military released the results of its own investigation and said the attack on the WCK convoy was a “serious violation” of its policies, the result of “mistakes” and was “contrary” to military procedures. He said two officers would be fired and commanders reprimanded, but He made no mention of legal actions such as prosecutions. World Central Kitchen responded by saying that the IDF “cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza” and demanding that an independent commission investigate.

The killings also led the WCK to suspend its operations in Gaza and other raiding organizations to follow suit, even as famine threatened Palestinians in the region. WCK officials have said they are considering whether and when to resume. Since the killings, Andrés has kept a relatively low public profile, although he said in an interview with Reuters that WCK had contacted the Israeli military about the whereabouts of the aid workers and said they were “targeted deliberately and non-stop until everyone was dead.”

Andrés, a Spanish immigrant to the United States who began building his restaurant empire in Washington, founded World Central Kitchen in 2010 as a scrappy organization. Since then, it has become one of the most recognized humanitarian forces, partnering with chefs on the ground in emergencies, including hurricanes in Houston and Puerto Rico and wildfires in the western United States and Australia. He has fed refugees on the US-Mexico border and people fleeing the war in Ukraine. His work earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and made him, with his effusive energy and calls for “longer tables, not higher walls,” the face of humanitarian aid.