Tuesday morning, I’m driving to the Ashley Reservoir in Holyoke to meet a friend for a morning walk. The radio is tuned to NPR. A news brief reports two back-to-back headlines: Officials at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, without power to operate incubators or other lifesaving medical equipment, buried 170 people, including babies, in a mass grave. The Israel Defense Forces announced the death of Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier. She was captured in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

I am devastated by the daily reports of Palestinian and Israeli suffering.

I later Google these stories and their accompanying photos. A young Noa Marciano before Oct. 7, in her graduation gown, bright eyes shining through big round wire-rimmed glasses, smiles wistfully, her cap and tassel sit atop her long dark tresses. Within the Al-Shifa Hospital courtyard, the dead are concealed within a colorful array of sheets and blankets. A woman with a purple backpack leans over a guardrail, her fingers reaching for the top of a pink cover with a loved one inside. So many lives cut short, so many people broken with grief. 

The stillness of the Ashley Reservoir is enchanting, but as my friend and I walk, surrounded by water, I am focused inward, my head swirling with questions.

How can this reign of violence bring the safety and security that people are hungry for? Why must we always choose sides, affirming one and demonizing the other? How will we end the trauma that turns human suffering into a repetitive cycle of violence?

Who will lead the way to a promised land where Jews and Palestinians can raise a generation of children who will not know war? When will people finally stop equating Palestinians and Jews with self-serving, corrupt leaders? Will grief borne from violence ever lead to peacemaking instead of revenge?

There has to be another way.

Sally Abed, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and Alon-Lee Green, a Jewish Israeli, recently enabled 6,000 webinar participants, including me, to turn despair into hope for a “shared future for people who have a shared problem.”

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Believing that “the status quo is just not working,” Sally and Alon-Lee are joining with others, guided by a vision of “peace, equality and social justice” through their Israeli/Palestinian organization, Standing Together. Founded after the 2014 Gaza war, Standing Together was created as “a voice to tell the public we can go in a different direction.” It organizes Jews and Palestinians to “fight together for shared causes,” such as connecting low-income religious Jews and young Palestinians in Israel to press the government to raise the minimum wage.

After Oct. 7, their goal of bridging a divided society has become more challenging, with “leaders (who) feed on trauma and fear …targeting Jewish and Palestinian partners who choose to be together.” It’s really miraculous that in a country where overwhelming fear and grief can be the harbinger of hate, Standing Together has doubled down its efforts to “hold humanity” and continue to envision a different kind of future, instead of “eternal wars on all fronts.”

They do this through a “pro-peoples” model of mutual aid, which includes a support hotline to give those who are being persecuted legal, social work, and emotional support. Standing Together’s movement of Jewish and Palestinian activists are organizing grassroots leadership “to build political will to end the occupation and have peace,” guided by their “sacred value of equality.” Talking about a one or two-state solution can’t be addressed until the bloodshed stops.

Sally and Alon-Lee have been in the U.S. for a week. They were shocked and discouraged by the polarization of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups here. “It was crazy for us to understand that we left one war zone and entered another … It’s saddening and heartbreaking to see this polarization and inability to hold the pain and future interests of both groups.”

The chat on the Zoom call repeated the same urgent question, “What can we do?” The answer: Stop choosing sides.

“Hold everyone in your minds. Talk about peace. Say the word ‘peace’. If we’re not … pushing to save lives on all sides then we are not helping … We need to construct messages and build coalitions that emphasize both people. We need to talk about pain, grief, losing loved ones. Showing pictures of Israelis and Palestinians who have lost their lives next to each other is constructive.”

“We are doing something that is challenging, tough, going against the current, but it is possible. People are joining us. There is an ability to operate from a place of healing and humanity.” Standing Together knows they face an uphill battle, but their determination is infectious.

Standing Together belongs to a coalition of over 170 Palestinian and Israeli organizations building people-to-people cooperation, coexistence, equality, shared society, mutual understanding and peace among their communities. They add stability in times of crisis, foster cooperation, and build an environment conducive to peace over the long term (Alliance for Middle East Peace).

I want to stand with Israelis, Palestinians, and allies working for a peace that honors everyone’s humanity. Join the movement: standing-together.org/en and www.allmep.org/. Co-existence organizations: www.positive.news/world/groups-working-for-israel-palestine-peace/ and allmep.org/about-us-allmep/members/. 

Sara Weinberger of Easthampton is a professor emerita of social work and writes a monthly column. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.