Pamela: This week, the Israeli government resumed its bombing of Gaza and killed over 400 people in one day alone. This all happened alongside a siege that has blocked all access for humanitarian goods into Gaza.
To be clear, forcing people to flee bombardments or scrape through rubble to find their loved ones doesn’t make anyone safer—whether in Gaza or Israel. And keeping people away from food and water doesn’t help bring the remaining hostages home to their families.
The devastation is real, and I want to let you know that I’ve been talking to people in the region right now who are horrified and under daily attack but haven’t given up. Despite increasing threats and hard odds, peace innovators in Palestine and Israel are doing all they can to break this cycle of violence.
You may already know Standing Together, Combatants for Peace, and the Parents Circle-Families Forum, three incredible groups we work with who are based in the region. The simple truth is that we can’t create the change we need to truly keep people in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, or the United States safe without partners like them who are most directly impacted.
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The violence and suffering we’ve witnessed over the past few days has sent the world on a knife’s edge, Pamela. But in the face of so much pain, amongst our community are innovators, heroes — peacemakers.
These people, in the face of losing everything, are building the world we all want and deserve. That world includes a future where people in Palestine and Israel can have dignity while living and thriving without the fear of violence.
They include people like Sally and Alon-Lee, a Palestinian and Jewish Israeli duo who founded Standing Together. This group of peace activists is speaking out and organizing Arab-Jewish solidarity groups and rallies across Israel in the face of threats, harassment, and personal risk. The New York Times has described their work as a path to build “enough popular political will to demand peace.”
Then there’s the Parents Circle – Families Forum, a joint Palestinian-Israeli organization of people who have lost close family members to the conflict. The Forum has over 700 families, and more have joined since October 7th. These individuals confront the grief and horror of this war daily, but they choose reconciliation over retribution, and call on others to do the same.
Finally, there’s Combatants for Peace, a joint Palestinian-Israeli community made up of former Israeli and Palestinian fighters, refuseniks, and non-violent activists working in solidarity to end the occupation, discrimination, and oppression by co-creating a just peace. In an interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, their co-founder Avner shared why their work is so critical: “When people are fed with the idea that there is no choice but violence, there is only violence, to each other.” That’s why they choose solutions based on non-violence and human dignity.
Our team at Win Without War is honored to work alongside them in this critical moment — because we know that the impossible becomes achievable when we work together.
With your support, we’re changing the discussion about what ‘security’ really means, and building a world where people can thrive without the threat of violence, Pamela.
By donating through this email, you can support four organizations in this urgent moment of crisis. That means, if you donate $20 today, Win Without War, Standing Together, Combatants for Peace, and Families Forum will each receive $5 to fuel our shared work to create the political space for solutions rooted in peace, dignity, and justice. If you give more, our ability to make an impact increases too.
Thank you for working for peace,
Sara and the Win Without War team
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