No to a Regional War, Yes to a Deal
An update from Standing Together, dated 20 September.
After 11 months of this brutal war and constant tension between Israel and Hezbollah, it seems as though we’re on the brink of a regional war (again!). The week started with the drastic news that Netanyahu is planning to fire defense minister Yoav Gallant because Gallant is standing in Netanyahu’s way of going to a full-blown war with Hezbollah, and is refusing to advance regulation that would continue to exempt ultra-orthodox men from military service – a move that could cost Netanyahu his coalition.
Yesterday the situation got even more heated as Israel exploded thousands of Hezbollah pagers. People in northern Israel and South Lebanon have already been living in fear for months – and now the entire region is waiting anxiously to find out what will happen in the coming days. A full-blown regional war will only be catastrophic for everyone in the region, and it will ultimately end in a ceasefire agreement. We are headed for a disaster, and we need leadership across the middle east to act quickly to de-escalate.
In the midst of this chaos, we are continuing to fight for a ceasefire and hostage deal that will also de-escalate the region ,as well as organize to build long-term power. This week we have been running our annual student seminar for Palestinian students – a week-long seminar in Arabic where 20 Palestinian students came together to meet prominent activists and learn about leadership, community organizing and building power. The seminar is always a highlight of the year, and especially this year when political persecution and silencing of Palestinian students is at its highest, the seminar is particularly meaningful.
This week we also held a Community Organizing training for our Jewish and Palestinian activists at our outdoor encampment in Jerusalem to bring back the hostages and stop the war. Your support makes it possible for us to run regular workshops and seminars like these, training the leadership of the next generation. Please consider joining Friends of Standing Together to become a monthly supporter and contribute to this crucial ongoing work.
The second phase of the Gaza Aid campaign is still underway, with volunteers in warehouses every few days helping to get all of the aid ready to enter Gaza. Sally Abed, a member of the Standing Together national leadership, wrote an opinion piece in Ha’aretz about the aid campaign. Check it out here.
