Kites for K’far Aza: Congregation B’nai B’rith Honors Family Killed in October 7 Attack

Before October 7, the Kutz family flew messages of hope and peace on kites in their Kibbutz of K’far Aza on the border of Israel and Gaza. 

However, kites never flew the day of October 7, 2023, as the Kutz family had planned. The family was murdered in their home, and the kite festival was abruptly and violently canceled. 

However, residue of that family’s love and peaceful ambition were present in Santa Barbara this weekend. Congregation B’nai B’rith (CBB) flew kites with a small community of their own on Sunday to honor the Kutz family and others lost in the bloodshed of the October 7 attack and the war that has followed. 

Aviv and Livnat Kutz, and their three children, would make and fly kites every year on Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday. 

“The idea occurred to Aviv Kutz because of the explosives that were regularly launched from Gaza, designed to explode on impact in neighborhoods near the border,” according to Julie Wood, the chief organizer of this Sunday’s event. “These explosives were described by the sister of a member of Congregation B’nai B’rith as ‘the regular explosive attacks that our kids grew up with — everyone got used to them.’”

The kites the family and their neighbors flew at the border carried messages of hope and peace for people on both sides of the fence to see. Jewish families in Santa Barbara on Sunday flew paper kites with similar sentiments in their memory. 

Wood said she wanted the focus to be on hope, not sadness, despite the heavy undertones of the festivities. 

People gathered at wooden picnic tables in Alameda Park, crafting kites printed with handwritten inspirational phrases, such as “Bring them back home,” referring to the captives still being held in Gaza.

The white and rainbow-colored kites decorated the sky as smiling children and their families ran around trying to catch the wind. 

Wood said the event both honored those lost and renewed “hope for peace.” 

“We will leave this event with hope,” she said. 

An ocean away, violence is in a gradual crescendo in the Middle East. Despite pleas for peace, it is a reverberating cacophony of retaliation, with cross-border strikes and increasing hostilities. 

Nearly 1,200 people lost their lives in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In the year since — this Monday marked the one-year anniversary — the war in the Middle East has only escalated. An estimated 41,788 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, which is now facing a humanitarian crisis: zero fully-functioning hospitals and shortages of food, water, and shelter.

The wildfire only spreads and burns brighter with each attempt to extinguish embers. Iranian missiles are striking Israel, and Israel is attacking Lebanon, fueling conflict and misery and making peace seem like a far-off reality.

The violence is thousands of miles away from Santa Barbara, but yet so close to home for some. The conflict is loud; and many are listening, mourning, and protesting. 

Sunday’s kites were relatively quiet, but amplified heartfelt messages of remembrance and healing. 

Later this month, another demonstration for peace will be held, called “The Concert for Peace.” It will be performed by the UCSB Middle East Ensemble on October 27 at 7 p.m. at the Alcazar Theater in Carpinteria. 

Ellery Wakeman contributed reporting to this story.