Organising in Israel to demand a ceasefire, peace, and equality: report from Standing Together’s Uri Weltmann
We publish below a report from Standing Together’s National Field Organiser Uri Weltmann, on Standing Together’s recent and upcoming activity. The report was circulated to international supporters of Standing Together on 31 January.
Dear Friends,
It has been almost four months since the start of the war, and the news coming out of Gaza shock us to our core. The horrendous humanitarian catastrophe, the staggering death toll, and the determination of the cynical Israeli politicians to continue the bloodletting – are deeply troubling.
Against this backdrop, we in Standing Together continue to lead the Israeli peace movement in demanding a cease-fire agreement that would stop the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza and allow for the safe return of the Israeli hostages to their families.
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Following 7 October, our activities received broad coverage in the media abroad. Our strategy, of working to bring together both Jews and Palestinians around shared mutual interests, and to organize across difference in order to shift public opinion inside Israeli society and create change, has its critics.
Some parts of the international Palestine solidarity movement are in disagreement about our method of work and about the basic postulates that inform our strategy, which is legitimate. However, surprisingly, one of these organizations, PACBI, released a statement last week calling for the wholesale boycott of Standing Together.
The unfortunate statement contains numerous inaccuracies, some of which amount to downright fallacies. It sparked debate (see, for example, here) on various social media platforms, with many veteran peace and solidarity activists – including from the Palestinian diaspora, as well as those who live in this country – stating their opinion that the call to boycott the leading force inside Israeli society organizing the movement for a ceasefire is harmful and misguided.
A statement was released a few days ago, signed by Palestinian members from the national leadership of Standing Together, which responded to some of these allegations. Click here to download the statement as a PDF.
Our response received some coverage from English language press that follows developments in this country, including Ha’aretz and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Two weeks ago, we organized a peace demonstration, which was the biggest protest of its kind inside Israel since the start of the war. After the police denied us of a permit to hold a demonstration, we persisted, and organized – in coalition with more than 30 organizations, who endorsed our call – a peace march in Tel-Aviv, attended by thousands.
A report I wrote for the UK newspaper Morning Star about this can be read here.
Some videos and images from the protest:
Hear parts of the speech of Rula Daood, National Co-Director of Standing Together, at the rally:
Peace activist Neta Heiman, whose mother was kidnapped on 7 October and released in the November hostages deal, called in her speech for a ceasefire agreement to allow for the hostages to return home:
Alon-Lee Green, our National Co-Director, was interviewed on the BBC about our protest:
I spoke with Trisha Goddard from TalkTV in the UK, about our struggle:
This on 2 February, Standing Together will hold its 4th National Convention in Haifa. These conventions are biannual, with the previous one taking place in November 2021. The conventions are where we debate policy, approve movement strategy, and elect our new National Coordinating Team, which serves as the movement’s leadership for the next two years.
The 4th National Convention was supposed to take place in December, but was postponed because of the war. We expect hundreds of movement members and supporters to attend. I will send you an update next week about the convention, and about the new elected leadership.