One Year Later

A message to supporters from Standing Together’s National Co-Directors Alon-Lee Green and Rula Daood.

Reaching the one year mark since October 7th and the start of this brutal war is hitting us particularly hard, and we’re sure that you are feeling the heaviness too. 

It feels surreal to reach a year since Hamas’ horrific attack on October 7th and 101 hostages are still being held in captivity. To know that since that terrible day, Israelis have remained displaced from southern border communities and communities on the border with Lebanon, and people in Gaza have faced unrelenting bombardment and a brutal ground invasion, killing at least 41,000 people, and displacing majority of the civilian population. It’s hard to believe that a year later, we are at the start of a new ground invasion in Lebanon, which has already killed hundreds of innocent people, has displaced over a million people, and is bound to bring with it unfathomable levels of killing and destruction. The West Bank has been burning under extreme levels of settler and military violence, and the occupation is deepening. Our society within Israel is fragmented, fearful, and in a never-ending trauma that our extremist government ministers are using as a tool to justify more revenge, killing and violence, and to keep us in a permanent state of war. 

This is one of the darkest periods that this land has ever experienced, but we refuse to believe that our reality has to look like this forever.

For as long as we can remember, people who called for peace and non-violence were considered “naïve,” stupid, or even traitors. If the past year has taught us anything – it is that there is nothing more naïve than believing that this cycle of bloodshed and wars is sustainable. There is nothing more naïve than believing that the path we have been on until now is a path we should stay on.

The truth is that on this land live millions of Palestinians and millions of Jews, and nobody is going anywhere. Working toward a sustainable peace that guarantees everyone freedom, safety, equality and independence is imperative for anyone in this land who wants to see a future here. The fates of Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, are tied. So no, we are not naïve, and you are not either. 

In the face of decades of bloodshed and a year of unfathomable violence and destruction, we are insisting on Jewish-Palestinian solidarity, and insisting on calling an end to the bloodshed once and for all. We are calling on our society to fight for life, in the face of our leadership that only speaks of death. We are calling on everyone around the world to pick a side – but for that side not to be Israelis or Palestinians – for the side to be all of us, the Israeli and Palestinian people on the ground who all deserve a real future, against our leaderships that are only dragging us further into the abyss.

We are so grateful to have you with us as we continue our fight, and your support has enabled us to grow our movement on the ground in a time that feels almost impossible to do so. To mark this tragic milestone, we have compiled a booklet of eulogies and speeches given by movement members, local and international activists, and allies since October 7th. We hope that this booklet will help you reflect on the heavy year that has passed, and give you the tools you need to continue fighting for an end to the war, an end to the bloodshed, and a future of peace and justice for all in Israel-Palestine.

A Call to Action: Support us this year in our struggle for peace

In the past year Standing Together has grown exponentially. We have moved to the forefront of civil society and become the largest peace movement in Israel, and the only group that has mobilized thousands of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel around ceasefire, solidarity and change. 

A large part of this is thanks to the over 3,200 people from around the world who have become members of ‘Friends of Standing Together’. Their monthly donations are a crucial factor in allowing us not just to continue working but to expand, reach new audiences and build bold new campaigns. The following year will be an uphill battle; we are far from where we want to be. But we are not giving up and neither should you. As we approach the one year mark of this brutal war we must ask: do we want more of the same, or are we going to build hope for a different reality in this land? Join our call. Become a member of ‘Friends of Standing Together’ and affirm your commitment to Jewish-Palestinian solidarity and peace.