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WHY A FACTION OF BDS IS ATTACKING STANDING TOGETHER  
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Etan Nechin
January 31, 2024
Haaretz
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_ Standing Together is a fast-growing grassroots movement in Israel
bringing Jews and Arabs together, confronting the occupation and
protesting the Gaza war. Now a key BDS group is calling for it to be
boycotted. _

A meeting of Standing Together activists in Tel Aviv. They hold signs
that read in Hebrew and Arabic, "Together", Credit: Amoon Shany Gillon


 

One of the largest and fastest growing grassroots movements in Israel
is one that brings Jewish and Arab citizens together. It is called
Standing Together, in Hebrew, Omdim Beyhad, and most recently, it's
been on the forefront of protests against the Gaza War within Israel.

But that has not stopped a Palestinian faction within the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement to use this most charged of
moments to target the group,
[[link removed]] the
most prominent organizational voice within Israel calling for a
cease-fire and the one doing the most to bring together Israelis
together in the struggle for equality, justice and an end to the
occupation.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of
Israel (PACBI) described Standing Together in a statement
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official website last week as "an Israeli normalization outfit that
seeks to distract from and whitewash Israel's ongoing genocide in
Gaza."

* A Jewish-Arab partnership is building a young new peace camp in
Israel
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* These Jewish and Arab Israelis Are Creating a New Type of
Grassroots Activism
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In response Palestinian members of Standing Together's national
leadership, wrote a statement
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back on Tuesday:

"We actively campaign against Israel's oppressive regime and have made
specific efforts to increase the visibility of atrocities committed by
Israeli in Gaza…despite the risk involved in doing so," the
statement reads. "It is disheartening to be silenced by other
pro-Palestinian groups at a time when we are being silenced and
persecuted by the Israeli government and Israeli institutions for
fighting for the lives of our people. We are proud to organize
Palestinians and Jews together."

Most Israeli left-wing groups offered solidarity while, the Israeli
right responded with a sense of self-justification
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suggesting the Israeli left should sober up to the fact that the whole
world is against us.

After almost four months of a brutal war, massacres, displacements and
failed leadership, Standing Together is a rare and welcome showcase of
the benefits of grassroots solidarity activities over ideological
battles.

[Protesters at anti-war protest in Tel Aviv hold signs printed by
Standing Together that read in Hebrew and Arabic, "Only peace will
bring security."]

Protesters at anti-war protest in Tel Aviv hold signs printed by
Standing Together that read in Hebrew and Arabic, "Only peace will
bring security."

Standing Together, which notably maintains an ethos of radical empathy
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our polarized times, has publicly criticized the occupation, called
out Israel's rule in the West Bank as apartheid, and has protested the
blockade of Gaza.

It was a prominent force in the "anti-occupation bloc" during protests
against judicial overhaul in Israel. The group has faced police
crackdowns for organizing protests against the war. Post-October 7, it
set up a legal aid hotline for Palestinians and left-wing activists,
organized food packages for Jewish, Muslim and Christian families in
mixed cities who are struggling financially since the war broke out.
It has also set up "solidarity guards" of local Jews and Arabs who
meet for dialogue and together do outreach like visiting families with
loved ones have been taken hostage and meeting with Jewish-Arab
medical teams at hospitals, cleaned out bomb shelters, among other
joint actions. Their new slogan is: "Together we will get through
this".

The movement has only grown since October 7, but there are plenty of
people hostile to their message as well. Recently, Israeli Army Radio
pulled an interview with co-director Alon-Lee Green after right-wing
pushback hours before it was scheduled to air.

[A Standing Together anti-war vigil in December in Haifa.]

A Standing Together anti-war vigil in December in Haifa.Credit:
Standing Together

Boycotting, is a valid form of non-violent protest. We can see it
embraced by some Israelis themselves against Jewish settlement
products and the settlements themselves. It aligns with leftist
principles, and in the case of BDS, advocates for non-normalization of
Israel and its institutions.

Yet, for those who see a shared future in the land, uniting and
striving for a common future is the only way forward. No Standing
Together member is trying to "normalize" past or present policies by
Israel's governments: taking to the streets before and after October
7th is a testament to that.

BDS was created as a call from Palestinian civil society to disengage
with Israeli institutions because of the ongoing occupation.

However, the call for Israeli-Palestinian solidarity is also rooted in
appeals from within the Palestinian community as well, across the
divide of the Green Line. Palestinian society, like any community,
isn't monolithic. Nor are Israelis either. In Standing Together, there
are many anti-occupation activists, those supporting Israeli human
rights groups like Breaking and the Silence and B'Tselem and those who
have also supported tactics of the BDS.

This variety indicates that support for the Palestinian cause isn't
restricted to a single path; there are numerous ways to contribute to
ending the occupation and promoting Palestinian self-determination.

The problem with the BDS isn't the tactic itself, but that as a
movement it slides into historic essentialism.
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isn't only defined by the absolute worst policies and crimes; its
existence is conditional because of them. And this means it can never
make right its crimes; its citizens can never be redeemed.

As Sally Abed, a Palestinian member of Standing Together's leadership
said in Dissent Magazine
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of the problems with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign is
that it assumes that Israeli society can't change. And by assuming
that it can't change, important conversations between Israelis and
Palestinians don't happen anymore."

Critiques may arise regarding specific tactics or messages, but
generally, the supporters of Standing Together — who are part of
Israel's tight-knit society and can also be found in the ranks of many
parties and movements— have shared objectives.

Standing Together has grown in strength and members managed to gain
acceptance in certain mainstream circles
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And while not a political group, it has worked to get people out to
vote. When a movement grows momentum, it naturally faces more
scrutiny—from both Jews and Palestinians. Even more so in a society
whose mainstream has gone more nationalistic.

Of course, for the Palestinian citizens of Israel in the group, this
is felt much more intensely. As Abed reflected in a Jewish Currents
podcast
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have never felt that I have such little space to express myself,
ever."

A key concept of solidarity is the importance of gathering political
strength for the most vulnerable to express themselves and ideally
without facing backlash. This means building a network.

Ariel Angel, editor-in-chief of Jewish Currents, stressed the
significance of inclusivity in forming coalitions. Addressing critique
of participants at a ceasefire rally for labeling Israel as committing
genocide, she remarked in the same podcast
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"we can't litmus test them on whether they are saying the right things
in the moment."

[Standing Together co-directors Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green.
"Joining the movement became a life-changing journey for me," Daood
says.]

Standing Together co-directors Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green. "Joining
the movement became a life-changing journey for me," Daood
says.Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

If it's wrong to apply a litmus test to those who label Israel's
actions as genocide
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wouldn't it be similarly questionable to impose such a test on calls
for Israelis and Palestinians to collaborate in seeking power and
solidarity?

The point is the focus should be on fostering dialogue and unity
rather than setting rigid benchmarks for participation or support.

Solidarity means trying to engage even when the other is reluctant. So
it's legitimate for those who want to boycott Standing Together as
well as it is those who seek to find common ground.

Boycott is an act of withdrawal, of not consuming, of not buying the
ticket. Boycott should be one of many tools in our arsenal for social
change, especially against official institutions and large companies.

Standing Together shows there's another way to try to make progress,
one which is participatory, active, not from the remove of any
ideological stance, but a recognition even though we are in different
social and political positions, we are all in the same boat. It's
offering solidarity with those who face the most oppression, violence,
subjugation, and alienation.

As Standing Together's co-director Rula Daood said on the
left-wing Majority FM podcast
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will be spilled before we understand that the fate of Israelis and
Palestinians is interconnected? That it's either we all live in a
peace and freedom or none of us will?"

_Etan Nechin is an Israeli-born journalist and author.
Twitter: __@Etanetan23_ [[link removed]]

_Haaretz: News you can trust on Israel, Gaza and the Mideast.
Subscribe now [[link removed]] for on-the-ground
reporting and analysis._

* BDS
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* Standing Together
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* Israel
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