On April 10, the day after the Israeli elections, NIF grantee Omdim Beyachad (Standing Together) launched a campaign to recruit new members. Since the launch of this campaign, over 550 new members have joined the movement. This is a hopeful sign for the prospects of genuine, impactful Jewish-Arab partnership in Israel.

Omdim Beyachad (Standing Together) is a grassroots, “people-powered” movement which organizes Jewish and Arab citizens to take action together for social and political change.

Over the last few weeks, over 600 people turned up to recent regional events in Sderot, Tira, Be’er Sheva, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv. At these events, activists spoke about “the way to build strength and that the struggle against the government of tycoons and settlements.”

In a recent article, members Nisreen Shehada and Alon-Lee Green outlined their vision of Jewish-Arab partnership, “The majority of the people in this land is harmed by the government’s policies. Jewish-Arab partnership is the way to fight those various forms of oppression, including ending the occupation.

“Since its founding, we at Standing Together have always believed it is both possible and necessary to work for Israeli-Palestinian peace alongside struggles for social justice and equal civil and national rights. On every front of that struggle we insist on working together on the basis of shared interests.”