“Our society is refusing war”
A message to supporters from Standing Together.
For a week now, thousands of army reservists and veterans – from the air force, navy, elite intelligence units, armored corps, and paratroopers – have called to stop the war on Gaza. In their letters, they’re saying clearly: not only is the war killing the hostages, it’s killing innocent Palestinians. The army, as a response, dismissed them from duty! This means it is effective and reinforces exactly what we’ve been calling for since the day our government collapsed the ceasefire deal: We must refuse the war.
And they’re not the only ones pushing back. Hundreds of medical professionals, and 1,700 artists just yesterday, called for ending the war and securing the return of the hostages. This reflects what the public wants too. For months polls have shown that a clear majority stands for an end to the war and the return of the hostages.
Recently, the Israeli army’s new chief of staff admitted to a shortage of soldiers and questioned the feasibility of Netanyahu’s aims, especially without enough troops. This is huge! Refusal is effective in stopping the war. If we refuse, it will end.
This is a clear trend and it’s getting stronger. More and more people in our society are joining our call for the public to refuse the war. Just this week we put up a massive billboard on Israel’s main highway calling to refuse the war, which was made possible by hundreds of small donations from people in our society and around the world.
The billboard reads: “15 paramedics were executed. Refuse war.”
The public knows the war is being fought to protect Netanyhau’s extremist coalition and that it can never make us safer. It created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Palestinians are still suffering from hunger and in desperate need of medicine, real shelter, and infrastructure, and it is condemning the hostages to continue suffering in Hamas captivity.
Every day for the past week, we have been holding vigils in Jaffa – and have held ones in Kfar Qasem and Kfar Saba – for the more than 17,000 children killed in this war. We held up their pictures to remember the human cost of this war, to remember that each of them had a face, a life, and people who they loved and who loved them.
We are planning to hold more of these silent memorials in communities across the country – to remember the children who were killed and to send a clear message, from Palestinians and Jews, that we refuse this bloody reality.
Last week, 70 activists from our student chapters took part in our student leadership seminar, where they learned strategies about campus organizing, building power, and driving positive change in student life. They also discussed the upcoming elections for the student union and municipal elections. Our students are the most powerful organized political force on campuses in Israel today, proving every single day that we, the people on the ground, are able to fundamentally change our reality – we just need to organize.
Posted 17 April 2025