The hearts of Jewish Americans and Palestinian Americans in western Massachusetts are broken.
Over the past four months, hundreds of local residents have come together in rallies, sit-ins, and petition drives demanding a permanent ceasefire, freedom for Palestine, and justice for the families of the hostages.
But as the death toll in the Gaza Strip rises and Hamas continues to take Israeli hostages, the dialogue has become increasingly polarized, with one side often pitted against the other.
Black, red, green and white “Free Palestine” flags fly at one protest, while blue and white Israeli flags fly at another, each highlighting the pain and suffering of one group. Social media is full of hashtags like #freePalestine and #standwithIsrael, but these messages are rarely seen in conjunction.
In the midst of all the heartache and division, a prominent Israeli grassroots group called Standing Together is rallying Israeli Jews and Palestinians to spread their message around the world for “peace, equality, and social justice.” presents a vision of
They took that message to western Massachusetts on Sunday, where Standing Together representatives spoke to a group of more than 200 Jewish community members in an online forum.
Nadav Shofet, a Jewish Israeli and one of the two Standing Together organizers who spoke at the forum, said, “We are not concerned about fighting between the two sides or trying to mediate. “It's not like we're being held back,” he said.
This event is a celebration of the Jewish community of western Massachusetts, including Congregation B'nai Yisrael, Beit Ahava, the Amherst Jewish community, Temple Israel in Greenfield, a local Jewish day school, and Lander Grinspoon Academy. Sponsored by a coalition of human organizations.
In her introduction to the forum, Tamar Fields, chair of Congregation B’nai Israel’s Israel Democracy Task Force, said in her introduction to the forum that the purpose of the event was to start from a broad range of areas and build resilience, togetherness, and “intra-community The goal is to build dialogue. A look at the region's Jewish community, including different generations, political viewpoints, and Jewish affiliations.
“Like so many of you, my heart has broken many times since October 7,” Fields said. “And as I continue to hear about the atrocities committed and continuing to occur in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, my heart breaks. Learning about the work of Standing Together gives me hope. Given.
“In the midst of recent horrific violence and ongoing suffering, they are incredibly courageous and empathetic in asking people to choose one side and resist the urge to dehumanize the other.” “We are doing a lot of powerful work,” Fields continued.
Standing Together was founded in 2015 after the 2014 Gaza War, the deadliest war in Gaza at the time, followed by a wave of violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the time had a very famous quote,” said Sally Abed, a Palestinian-Israeli and prominent activist with Stand Together in Israel. “He said…'We will live forever on the sword.'”
Abed said the message the language sends is that “the security of Israel and Israelis necessarily means the subjugation of the Palestinians.” Without a partner, that inevitably means military domination, and we will forever live on the sword. ”
Eight years later, that rhetoric remains harsher than ever after the election of Israel's far-right government last year.
“The reality that we are stuck as a society in this never-ending cycle with no alternatives, no one is giving the people of Israel an alternative. No one is telling them it could be different. No,” Abed said.
That alternative is what Standing Together aims to provide.
“Our focus is on peace between Israel and Palestine and the need for equality between Jews and Arabs in Israel. These are our core beliefs,” Shofet said. he said.
Since the war began, the group has worked to quell communal violence, establish mutual family aid, create solidarity meetings, and organize spaces for people to grieve safely.
“In this war, we strongly believe that the only way out of the war is a ceasefire, an immediate return of the hostages, and an end to the killing of innocent lives in Gaza and the endless suffering in Gaza.” I insist,” Shofet said. “But the way forward is also to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine, which is in the interest of everyone who lives here.”
Abed said achieving peace comes with many other challenges, including systemic discrimination, incarceration and police violence.
“We understand that these things are interconnected and can only be jointly led by Palestinians and Israeli Jews. It can only be a joint struggle. There is no way,” Abed said. “What we are trying to do now is escalate the message of solidarity and partnership to a more political and courageous, so to speak, brave message of peace. We need a political movement, a leadership that can offer the Israeli people an alternative.”
“We know that there are millions of Jews living in this land, but they are not going anywhere. And we know that there are millions of Palestinians living in this land,” Shofet said. They live here and don’t go anywhere.”
Shofet and Abed said Americans have a role to play in the global discussion of conflict.
“This is a collective effort,” Abed said. “As a Jewish community, I think we can definitely promote the idea that Jewish security is necessarily tied to Palestinian freedom.”
The final part of the event included breakout discussion groups, where participants organized around the establishment of local Friends of Standing Together chapters, discussed further local programs, and shared their thoughts and reactions to the presentations.
