It was reported on 19 October that there were major concerns about the continuation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as both sides claimed the other was breaking the agreement.
Standing Together
It was against this background that two leaders of the grassroots Israeli-Palestinian movement Standing Together spoke to a large audience, including British people, on the evening of 19 October.
The speakers were Alon-Lee Green, the National Director of Standing Together and Shahd Bishara from the national leadership of Standing Together.
They were asked for their thoughts on the ceasefire, about what happens next, what the significance of Palestine being recognised as a state, and how important was a peace delegation to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmood Abbas, which Shad went on.
Alon-Lee Green
There was relief that a ceasefire is possible and that there has been hostage and prisoner exchange. Green mentioned seeing a touching video of twins being reunited.
But he questioned if he understands what is going to happen. So many pieces of the puzzle are an enigma right now. Why does Israel want Hamas in Gaza, not the Palestinian Authority? Why do Trump and Netanyahu say it is ‘peace’ when fighting is still going on?
Green believes that the Israeli government can withstand a lot of pressure. There have been attempts from the EU and Biden over the last two years, but the killings continued. Israeli leadership wants to erase everything and flatten Gaza. The only consistent pressure came from pressure from people in Israel, who didn’t stop organising and putting pressure on the government. So many of the governments have called for peace, and our job is to translate it into public pressure on the government.
For example this summer after Israel began to starve Gaza and then only allow 80 trucks to enter Gaza, the Israeli government claimed that there was no famine in Gaza, but then international media showed pictures of starving children and thousands of people stood in Israel with these pictures and the Israeli media picked up on it, leading to a large increase in aid entering Gaza. So outside pressure but consistent pressure by Israeli people is most important. Also the families of hostages called for a ceasefire and helped to mainstream what we were saying.
Yes Peace
Now it is a question of momentum. We have run a campaign called Yes Peace, explaining how we can all lead a different life, resisting reality and pushing for a better alternative. For the first time the Israeli public has been hearing leaders talking of peace and while they never mentioned the word Palestinians once, it is an opportunity. However, we need to say peace means ending the occupation and building a situation where everyone has lives of equality and dignity.
In the West Bank, some extreme settlers are angry with the ceasefire and so we send 40 of our activists to help Palestinians to harvest olives and to stand with local communities. Settlers come and throw stones and the IDF stand with the violent settlers and say to Palestinians, this is a closed military area and you can’t harvest olives here.
With regards to the recognition of Palestinian state, it was great to see Macron having a determination to recognise a Palestinian state. It is not an act aimed at Israelis but rather an act to help bring about a solution to the problems. If we have a Palestinian state then negotiations between Palestine and Israel can take place, so the Israeli government might be convinced that negotiation is required.
It is possible to show that on both sides that there are people who are willing to work for peace. Both the Israeli government and Hamas want to isolate those who want to work for peace. When we go to the West Bank we have freedom of movement, but Palestinians don’t have that privilege. Only together can we have enough power to change the situation.
Shahd Bishara
Shadd is a Palestinian Arab living in Israel and she talked of how for two years we have witnessed a devastating war. started with the unjustifiable attack on 7 October 2023 and after that attack Israeli society experienced a collective trauma and even a fear of existence. Soon after that the war led to collective punishment, leading to the unjustifiable killing of tens of thousands of innocent people in Gaza. For two years Standing Together has protested to show that war must end and Israeli hostages brought home.
The deal brought immense relief. However, peace is not only the absence of war. A Palestinian state next to Israel needs a peace that requires equality, dignity and freedom of movement.
We want to move on from the status quo to ensure that all live with freedom, equality and dignity.
Recognition of Palestine as a state
We need to ensure that the ceasefire holds and that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza. We need to demand that this moment doesn’t lead back to the status quo of 6 October 2023, because that brought us to this situation. Long-term we need a political agreement guaranteeing dignity and equality for all people with a Palestinian state and a structure of justice and peace between two peoples.
Recognition of a Palestinian state is long overdue. It is symbolic, but it is also a political shift as there can be no lasting peace without recognising the dignity and rights of the Palestinian people including the right to self-determination. It changes the international conversation and sends a strong message to Israeli society that conflict only has a solution based on equality.
The Israeli government includes extreme leaders who call everyone on the Palestinian side terrorists, but Palestinians are willing to be partners for peace and we can hear from them a desire to go forward with a peace process. Israeli society doesn’t see peace as a strong option, but stronger leaders for peace will see a shift in Israeli society. At present, we lack leaders who are willing to talk about peace so as a civil society we are showing that we are willing to work with Palestinians for peace.
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