Shabbat Vayikra/Shabbat Zachor
“Peace, for us… it’s not a slogan… it’s a reality where all people are equal, free, and independent.” —Alon-Lee Green
Last Shabbat, Senior Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum spoke with Sally Abed and Alon-Lee Green from Standing Together, a grassroots movement working to build peace and justice through solidarity between Israelis and Palestinians.
Standing Together works from the deep understanding that “there are 7 million Palestinians on the land and there are 7 million Jews on the land, and we all have the right to exist peacefully and equally and freely, period.”
Sally Abed, a Palestinian leader of Standing Together explained: “What Standing Together is trying to do is understand how we can co-lead this, how we can build this new protagonist, where Alon-Lee is not saving me, but he’s doing it out of self-interest, and I’m not only demanding liberation and solidarity, but also assuming responsibility over the whole people in our society and in the land. And I think that’s what Standing Together is doing, by trying to connect the struggles for peace, for equality, and for social justice.”
Alon Lee, one of the Israeli leaders of Standing Together, added: “To say, in a short but clear way, the reason we’re actually here, Jews and Palestinians together from Standing Together, is to gather support for our demand back home, but also from you guys, from your administration, for a ceasefire agreement right now, to stop the killing and destruction in Gaza, and to bring back all the hostages alive to their families. And it needs to happen now. It needs to happen now.”
As Rabbi Kleinbaum said, “You can donate to Standing Together. And if you care about the work of Sally, and of Alon-Lee, and of transforming Israel into a place in which Israeli Jews and Palestinians are all free and secure, we’ve got to step up as the progressive world. We can’t just say, okay, we’re just gonna sit back and wait to see what happens.”
You can become a friend of Standing Together, learn more about their important work, and donate here.
If you missed it, listen to the full, fascinating discussion with Rabbi Kleinbaum, Sally, and Alon-Lee about Israeli-Palestinian partnership and a shared future on the land.