UK Friends of Standing Together

Tell your elected representatives and candidates for office about Standing Together’s fight for peace and equality in Israel-Palestine

UK Friends of Standing Together is not an electoral organisation, and will be making no formal endorsements of any party or candidates in the upcoming UK general election. However, we do want candidates for office, and our elected representatives, to know about Standing Together and our work to support them.

We also recently produced a political statement, setting out actions we’d like to see the UK government, and elected politicians, take to support the cause of peace and equality in Israel-Palestine.

As part of this effort, our supporters have produced an adaptable pro forma letter you can use with local candidates and representatives to raise awareness of Standing Together’s work, and of the steps UK Friends of Standing Together supporters would like to see our own government and elected representatives take.

Please note that this is not an initiative of Standing Together itself, nor an intervention into the election that will result in calls to vote for or against particular candidates or parties.

Dear [name of MP or candidate],

I am a resident of [constituency/area]. I am concerned about the ongoing conflict in Israel-Palestine, with war crimes being committed by both the Israeli government and by Hamas, and about the horrific human cost that this war has exacted, particularly on those in Gaza. I believe that our politicians could do more to put pressure on the Israeli government as part of efforts to secure a better future for all Palestinians and Israelis, and to support those on the ground who are working towards that future.

One such group is Standing Together, a grassroots movement of Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel who are working to create change in Israeli society towards opposing the occupation and promoting peace, equality and social justice. In the past months Standing Together has been one of the leading anti-war voices in Israel. Their activists recently achieved attention for using their own bodies to prevent violent settlers from attacking aid convoys bound for Gaza. Standing Together needs and deserves our support.

We have therefore set up UK Friend of Standing Together. Our goal is to amplify and raise funds for Standing Together’s work in Israel. We believe co-resistance, meaning shared struggle towards an equal future, between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel is an irreplaceable element in any democratic transformation in the region.

We also acknowledge the role of diplomatic pressure, and believe international governments, including our own, must do more to advance the causes of peace and equality. We want our elected representatives to:

  1. Call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire and hostage-release agreement; call for the release of Palestinians held without charge in “administrative detention”; and for due process for all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
  2. Demand the UK government restores and increases funding to UNWRA.
  3. Demand the UK government withdraws the licenses under which UK-based firms sell arms to Israel, and ends trade with Israeli arms manufacturers, while the Israeli state is being investigated for suspected war crimes.
  4. Demand the UK government takes stronger action against Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank, including ongoing settlement expansion. This should include: barring UK charities from funding projects in the Occupied Territories; banning the import of goods produced in settlements; withdrawing the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill (the so-called “anti-boycott bill”).
  5. Support the recognition of the State of Palestine, as part of efforts to restart a genuine peace process aimed at ensuring an agreement which guarantees both peoples, Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, self-determination and equal rights.
  6. Commit to respecting the independence of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and to upholding and enforcing their judgments.
  7. Use your platform to support and amplify the work of Standing Together and other anti-war, anti-occupation, pro-peace movements in Israel working towards a future based on freedom, self-determination and equal rights for both peoples.

I look forward to receiving your response. If you are interested in learning more about Standing Together’s work in Israel, or the work that we are doing in the UK to promote it, I would be delighted to discuss this or to set up a meeting for you with members of our local or national leadership.

Kind Regards,
[Your details]