Out of the rubble of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, a grassroots movement of Jewish and Palestinian citizens inside Israel has emerged to forcefully reject a future of endless war and occupation. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Alon-Lee Green, national co-director of Standing Tog ether, explains how their movement is confronting state repression, settler violence, and rising fascism while working to build a new Jewish-Palestinian majority in Israel. Guest: Alon-Lee Green is the national co-director of Standing Together, a progressive Jewish-Arab grassroots movement that aims “to build a new majority within Israeli society that supports peace, equality, and social and environmental justice.” Green has organized numerous campaigns against the recent wars between Israel and Palestine, and for a just peace and equality and social justice in Israel. Additional links/info: Standing Together website, Facebook page, and Instagram Christiane Amanpour, CNN, “‘The pain is a mutual pain,’ say Israeli Jewish and Arab activists” Credits: Producer: Rosette Sewali Studio Production: David Hebden Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank Transcript The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible. Marc Steiner: Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s great to have you all with us as we begin this conversation with one of the founders and leaders of Stand Together, an organization of Israelis and Palestinians in Israel calling for an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the occupation and to the end of oppression Palestinians. On this very moment, over 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children have been killed in Gaza. 90% of Gaan have been displaced. It’s a war of annihilation. Standing together was founded by Alan the Green and ud, a Jewish, Israeli and a Palestinian citizen of Israel, respectively. The national co-directors are standing together, which is the largest Arab Jewish GSU movement, opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories and advocating for peace, equality, and justice for everyone living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2022, Udin Green were recipients of the Gallagher Prize from the New Israel Fund in October, 2024, they were selected for Time Magazine 100. Next 24 lists for their activity, opposing occupation for promoting Jewish Arab solidarity and guaranteeing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Today we are joined by Alon-Lee Green. So, Alon, it’s good to have you with us, and thank you so much for taking the time today. Alon-Lee Green: Thank you for having me. Marc Steiner: So let me take a step backwards here for our people listening to us today and talk about this movement standing together, because I think that if you look at the press in the United States, many of the places you think there was no opposition in Israel itself, from Jews especially to the occupation and to what’s happening in Gaza. So talk a bit about your group first standing together. Alon-Lee Green: So standing together is a Jewish, Palestinian grassroots movement operating within the borders of Israel, organizing people from both the bigger societies on our land in the fight against occupation and the wars and for freedom and equality and social justice and Israeli-Palestinian peace. We organize the citizens of Israel, which are both Palestinian citizens and Jewish citizens of Israel. But we also work across the border in solidarity with Palestinian communities in Gaza and in the West Bank In the last two years, referring to the question whether there was a position in Israel or not, I think there was a opposition in Israel. We were for sure positioned to all the genocidal intentions of our government and ministers to annihilate Gaza, to ethnically cleanse Gaza to just kill and destroy. We were opposition to the refusal of our government to release the hostages by a deal, but we also saw other kinds of opposition that I do insist to describe them as a position, even though they wouldn’t be exactly what I chose to do. But still, they went out to the streets in masses in the hundreds of thousands, they protest against the government. They demanded to release the hostages. A lot of them also demanded to end the war from different reasons. That can be a reason of not sending our soldiers to kill and get killed. It’s a self-interest of not having this war. Others saying that we killed too many, we destroyed too much, and I think we should see also other parts of the movement of the opposition in Israel and welcome it instead of looking at it and say, it is not good enough. I know it is complicated. I know when you see the images that came out of Gaza in the last two years, and then you see a hundred or 200,000 Israeli citizens going only with the pictures of the hostages, you can say it’s not enough. And I agree it’s not enough, but still it is important and it’s the beginning. Marc Steiner: There’s so many things I’m interested to hear from you, but one of this, how is it for you and others in Israel at this moment who are standing in opposition to the war in Gaza and to build a different future with Israelis and Palestinians? I mean, it makes me think of what it was like for white Southerners in the Civil rights movement when I was a young person in this civil rights movement to stand up against that mass of segregationists who did not want to integrate and give black people rights. So I’m curious, what is it like for you and others to stand up the way you’re standing up? Alon-Lee Green: It can be tough. It can be tough, and it’s getting tougher and tougher. There is a crackdown on the democratic spaces on our ability to operate. This weekend, the last weekend we have gathered in Haifa. It’s a mixed city of Jews and Palestinians in the north of Israel. We gathered for a national convention of the movement, celebrating also 10 years for the movement, but also looking ahead after these two last years on our mission. And the police decided to come to a convention with 1,500 Palestinians and Jews with rifles storming into our convention, telling us that they’re there to make sure that what we say on the stage or the placards and signs we present are according to the law, meaning that they felt they can censor us or silence us. And that was a threatening message to what we believe we can say or not say, or what they believe we can say or not say. So this is the kind of atmosphere some of us are getting arrested for saying what we say. Of course, if you’re a Palestinian citizen of Israel, the crackdown on you is so much harder than if you’re a Jewish citizen of Israel. You get a lot of death threats from just normal Israelis that can say, we will hang you. We will come to your home. We will find your address. People can shout at you, the streets for just being in the positions that you are. So this is the atmosphere, and I think it is encouraged by the government. There is a high level of political tension and political violence, but next to it, we’re growing. The reality is so harsh and so violent that it pushes a lot of people that used to be different in the past to pick a side and people do pick our side. And seeing the last rally, seeing us being able to mobilize tens of thousands of people supporting our messages, it’s an indication that there is a thirst to this voice calling to go to the different direction instead of eternal war and occupation towards actually the past of Israeli Palestinian peace and freedom and safety to all. Marc Steiner: Your co-director couldn’t join, say ruler. And I wonder, this is a very personal question in some ways and get back to politics in a minute, but you and ruler and others, Palestinian Israelis, what happens to you when you’re just in a normal every day you go out for a cup of coffee, for a drink, for dinner, sit in the park and talk. I mean, how threatened do you feel when you’re together? Describe what that’s like. Alon-Lee Green: So it can be very normal actually. It can be very, very normal and daily and it can feel so natural. We have five offices and centers across Israel that we call them the Purple Houses of the movement, Which is also the offices of the staff, but it’s also community and cultural and political and activist centers in Jewish cities or Palestinian cities or mixed cities in Israel. And you will find every day Jews and Palestinians coming there to do activities together to watch a movie or to have lessons, horses, dinners, or to prepare for demonstration together. Then we can go for a coffee or for a beer afterwards. It’ll be very normal. But then if the police will come, a Jewish person might pump their chest and say, what are you doing here? You have no right to disturb us. And the Palestinian person will be immediately more afraid and immediately more intimidated. And that’s just one example. Another thing is that we have a very strong daily activity in the West Bank in protective presence that we go to be with Palestinian communities. And there of course, that the Palestinian citizens of Israel that are members of our movement, they feel afraid to go stand in front of the settlers and the army in the West Bank. So then it’s something only allows Jewish citizens to participate in this activity. So there are a lot of gaps. The reality is not equal, but still in an unequal reality. We managed to have a lot of natural connections and daily normal things. And also not only in the movement, go to a hospital in Israel, 40% of all the hospital personnel in Israel are Palestinians. It’s normal. Marc Steiner: Yeah, the contradictions abound, obviously. Alon-Lee Green: Yeah. Marc Steiner: So talk a little bit more about your experiences going to the West Bank to protect Palestinians and Palestinian land and property. Tell us more about that. Alon-Lee Green: So we are facing right now the toughest and most historic violent wave of settler violence in the West Bank. And we’re talking about daily attacks of settlers that are raiding Palestinian villages that are attacking Palestinians in their cars, on the roads that are coming to businesses, bashing them, setting homes and cars on fire, looking at people, torching trees and fields. And all of this is backed by the army and the police, if the police will show up or if the army will show up, they will protect the settlers that are committing violent crimes and will arrest or even allow the violence towards the Palestinians. So we as a movement are coming daily to the West Bank to protect villages or communities only if we’re called. We’ll not show up in places where the people, the local residents will not want us there. And we stand between the settlers and the local communities and the people Marc Steiner: You mean. You literally stand between settlers intent on violence against Palestinians and the Palestinians themselves. Alon-Lee Green: In the last month, the month of the olive harvest, this is what we did every day. We helped to pick the olives, but we also stood between the Palestinians and their olive grids and the settlers that came. And we tried to make the police to interfere because of that, because it wasn’t Israeli citizens who are settlers versus Palestinians. It was Israeli citizens that are settlers versus other Israeli citizens. And then the police felt that there is a need to interfere and not to allow the violence. So we are using, in a way, we’re using our bodies and our existence there and our presence there to try and dismantle the violence and the attacks and the Palestinians. It can get violent. Some of my friends got shot at their direction, others came to the hospitals because of a stone or a stick. But it’s something that allows you to do something really profoundly amazing on the ground. It is very powerful. It’s very important. You’re changing the reality by your existence Marc Steiner: There. So given the reality of this moment where at least 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, Muslim women and children, that the war is raging just destroying Gaza, its infrastructure, and you have this movement in Israel of Jews, Muslims and Christians, Palestinians and Israelis together saying no to all of this violence and standing up to it, how do you see it playing out politically? It another step backwards. I’ve said this before when I was talking to other people in Israel in 1968, I was in Cuba and I came home with a poster. And that poster is the map of all of the holy land with an Israeli flag of one side, a Palestinian flag on the other. And down the front was written one state, two people, three faiths, which seems way off, but it’s one of my mantras. So I’m curious where you think this struggle takes everyone where you live because you’re not leaving Israel, you’re there and you’re dedicated to finding peace. So where do you see this going? Alon-Lee Green: So I think we need to look at two parts of this question. One is the dire reality and the dire needs of this moment. You cannot ignore, even if you look at the bigger picture, you cannot ignore the details and you cannot ignore the needs of people. Right now, Gaza has been annihilated. We’re talking about cities in plural that do not exist anymore. Not even one house was remained standing after the war, after the bombings of Israel. And people are intense right now. People are with running rainwater in their tents with diseases, with no hospital, no schools, no infrastructures. And this needs to be taken care of. It cannot be taken care of if Israel will assume the control of a 53% of Gaza. And it will also not be taken care of if a foreign army, even if it’s not the Israeli army, will come and control the Palestinians instead of them controlling themselves. So what I’m saying here is that there is the only possible resolution for Gaza right now is to allow the Palestinian authority to enter Gaza, to build a government, to build a governing body of Palestinians, to control themselves and to rebuild their lives from where they are right now. But then we need to also understand that Gaza is not disconnected from the West Bank, from East Jerusalem, from the greater Palestinian people. And then there’s only one way to look at it. There are 7 million Israeli Jewish people living on the land. Yes, they have their own country, they’re independent, they’re free, they have the right to vote and to get elected, they have passports. But there are also 7 million Palestinians living on the same land, and only 2 million of them are citizens of the Israeli state. Not equal citizens, but still citizens. And the others have no country in the world, no passports, no freedom of movement, no ability to vote or to get elected. They’re living under occupation. The only possible solution is to allow a reality in which we are all free, equal and independent. I personally believe that this reality means that Palestinians will have the right to form their own independent state alongside Israel right now. And that means that we will all be living under a state, not the same state with a passport, with the ability to control our lives. Whether it will move on to a different solution in 50 years, maybe. I personally believe that maybe a socialist federation of the entire Middle East is a good idea, but maybe we have some years before we reach there. I would say, yeah, one step after the other. Right now, the only way to move forward is to allow Palestinians their independent state. And it is our role as the Israeli movement of both Palestinians and Jews to build the political will within our society for this. Marc Steiner: So standing together as an organization of Palestinian Israelis, Christmas, Muslim Jews pushing for peace and fighting to end the occupation. What happens to you and other Israelis, Jewish Israelis, when they’re called up to serve? What do you do? Alon-Lee Green: So it’s a very fascinating and good question. There are a lot of different kinds of people that exist in our movement. We will never be a movement that says you’re against occupation. Good. You’re against racism. Good. You’re against Jewish supremacy good. You believe that all Palestinians should be living freely on this Islamic good, but if you define yourself in one ideologic name or other ideologic name, or you served in the past in the army, you cannot join our struggle. No, we’re all about building power and having enough power to change the reality. So this is why we’ll not have gatekeeping and purity tests indentions to our struggle and to our camp. A lot of the people that served in the West Bank in the checkpoints in Nalu ended their service and woke up and said, I did something that I shouldn’t have done. I did something that I want to speak about. I did something that I want to resist now, and I think we should listen to them and allowed them to fight against occupation today. I personally believe that people that committed war crimes in Gaza should pay for the war crimes they committed. I am not saying that we need to forget about the terrible things that happened there, but I also believe that there are still people that need the change right now, and we’re not in the time that history ended and now it’s time for the trials. No, now is the time for change. Now is the time to build power for change. And I think that we need to accept in open arms people that say, yes, I believe that this is the reality that we need to change. I recognize this reality and I’m part of the change. Marc Steiner: So when I think of my Israeli family that I have in Natanya and other places where they live, they all are called up to serve at some point. How many of the people in your movement have to end up going to jail for not serving? Alon-Lee Green: We have some. In the last two years, we had quite a few members that were arrested by the police, the Army police, for refusing to enter Gaza or to enter Lebanon. We organized demonstrations to support them. We actually organized a campaign calling soldiers to refuse to enter Gaza, to refuse to enter Lebanon, to refuse to commit war crimes, to refuse to starve people or to kill children. And we managed to sign hundreds of soldiers at the beginning and then thousands of soldiers on this refusal call. We don’t have the exact numbers because the army is hiding the numbers, But we do know that those people pay the personal price. Some of them went to serve at the beginning of the war and then joined the refusal call. Some of them said, I’m just not coming from the beginning. I know we got a bit of criticism for the ones that are later adopters that went at the beginning and then refused. I am saying here in the very possible clear way, welcome. If you at the beginning thought it’s the right thing, and now you’re thinking it’s the wrong thing and you’re joining the refusal movement, it is okay, at least as long as you are with us and refusing to commit these crimes. Marc Steiner: How optimistic are you that your movement will grow again? Let me take a step backwards again. I can remember the dangers we felt in Mississippi and Alabama in the sixties, in the eastern shore of Maryland, facing down segregation of some police people being killed, standing up to say in segregation. And I think what you’re facing in many ways is even more dangerous. So how do you see the movement building? How do you see the change, the possibility for real change taking place within Israel and Palestine? Alon-Lee Green: I think that the question we need to ask ourself is are we in the last stop of history? Is this definitive? Is this the end? And I believe the answer is no possibilities exists in our societies. Spaces exist in our society. People that want to see change or do not want to submit or to accept this reality, they exist. And as long as they exist all this together, as long as the struggle exists, there is still hope. The motto of our movement is where there is struggle, there is hope, and there is the struggle. It exists Marc Steiner: Where there is struggle, there is hope. Alon-Lee Green: Where there is struggle, there is hope. That’s the slogan of standing together. And it exists. The struggle, it exists. You have 20% of all the citizens of Israel are Palestinians. They have the inherent interest to change the reality because they’re paying the price for this reality. But what about the mother of a soldier that has been sent now to Gaza and in two years will be sent to kill and get killed again? Does she not have the interest to end this reality and to change this reality? I believe she does, and she has this interest, and I think this is a revolutionary component of our reality. Using the interest of people and going past, just the awareness of today is something that every person that wants to see change needs to be serious about. And if you will only ask me whether there is a chance for change, whether there’s a reason to be optimistic only upon the awareness, the political awareness of the Jewish people today on Israel, I will tell you that the situation is dire and extreme. But if I know to recognize their interest and I know that people can change, then I will tell you that I’m extremely optimistic because the struggle exists and the reality is full of contradictions, and these contradictions push people towards change. Marc Steiner: So do you feel in your daily work personally threatened? Alon-Lee Green: Yes. Yes. Those daily levels and occurrences of violence, if we go to a demonstration, right-wing activists that are bullies will come and will try to attack us. The police can attack us, the police can arrest us. We go to the West Bank and settlers can come with rifles in front of us every day. There are threats and reasons to feel threatened, but then I have the ability to feel that I’m part of a movement and I’m part of a big group of people that is just getting bigger and bigger. And this gives a lot of power. Marc Steiner: When you watch the Daily News, we see it from afar and we watch the destruction going on in Gaza. And then we also see these demonstrations. The demonstration You just had had massive demonstrations in Israel, didn’t you? Alon-Lee Green: Yeah, all through the two years of the war, there were massive demonstrations in Israel. Some of them reached 400,000 citizens, which is a big proportion of the Israeli general population. Marc Steiner: Yes, Alon-Lee Green: The largest of them was 400,000 people out of 9 million citizens. It’s quite a lot. The main demand was to sign a deal to release the hostages to end the war. A lot of the people also said things about Palestinian lives, about the children that are being killed in Gaza, about the starvation in Gaza, about the killing in Gaza. Some people felt that this shouldn’t be part of the protest. There was an argument within the movement. I am proud that our role was to take this movement to the left to deal with the question of Palestinian lives, with the question of the genocidal calls and genocidal war and the annihilation of Gaza. Marc Steiner: People listening to us today need to know a great deal more about standing together, about where your movement came from, how big it is. Talk a bit about what you actually stand for in the face of Warren Gaza and the genocide taking place because people have, many people have never heard of standing together unless you’re like read the news a lot, you’re in the movement, you don’t hear, so tell us. Alon-Lee Green: So standing together is a movement that is active in Israel, and we believe that as Jews and Palestinians together, we have the ability to build a new majority in our society and not to work across the normal division lines of Jews against Palestinians or periphery against center, but actually to see the interest of both Palestinians and Jews building a new reality here on the ground of freedom and peace and dignity and safety for all people. We believe that even though we can recognize the fact that Palestinians are paying the ultimate price for the occupation, for the violence, for the sub education, for the war crimes, and the historic crimes that have been committed on this land, the Jewish people also pay a price for this reality and also has many things that we lose. So if we are losing from the reality together today, we can win together from a new reality. And this is the majority that we’re building. It’s a majority that has the interest for social justice or economic justice or equality for democracy, and yes, or ending the occupation and achieving Israeli Palestinian peace. And this is the theory of change of standing together, recognizing these interests and bringing Palestinians and Jews together. Marc Steiner: I think what you’re describing here in Standing Together is a movement that is really broad. You’re not following a narrow ideology in terms of what you’re doing, but a broad movement to bring peace and find a new way for the future that lets people of many ideas come in together. Is that correct? Alon-Lee Green: It’s a broad movement, yes. We don’t tell a person that you can only join us if you hold one very specific ideology and we care about the change. And if you really want to change reality, you just move away from just condemning the reality. Reality. This is something we’re very serious about. Marc Steiner: So before you go Ilan, I’d like to hear your analysis of where you honestly think this will be going, where this movement takes you, where it takes Israel, Palestine and how, because there are many of us here. I mean, there are tens of thousands of people in the United States, Jews and others who are standing up and saying, no, we do not support this. That’s good. So where do you see it going Alon-Lee Green: Politically? So I believe we are in the historic juncture Of this land after the last two years towards the coming years. We need to make a choice. Are we going to allow our leadership to continue, push us towards the direction of eternal war and genocide and annihilation and occupation and apartheid and just the mess, killing a rivers of blood on this land? Or are we going towards a historic solution of Israeli-Palestinian peace of freedom and dignity and equality and safety to all? And I believe that it is a choice that people can make. So this is why we are an active force within our society to convince people to make this choice and go towards the direction of Israeli Palestinian peace. I think that the reality is open, the opportunity and the possibilities they exist, the dangers also exist, but it is the question of power and organizing. And I believe that we have the ability to win in this fight and in this historic juncture, we will need the help of the world. We will need the help of many different partners, but eventually it is upon the people that live here, the 7 million Palestinians, the 7 million Jews to make this decision Marc Steiner: Along. Let me say, first of all, thank you for taking the time today, and thank you for the bravery of you and the others, Palestinians and Israelis standing up to say no in standing together to build a different world. Thank Alon-Lee Green: You so much, Marc Steiner: And we’re here to be your voice, so you’re always welcome. Alon-Lee Green: I appreciate it so much. Thank you. Marc Steiner: Thank you. Once again, I want to thank Alan Lee Green for joining us today, and we’ll be linking to Standing Together and their work so you can follow what they do, and we’ll be continuing our conversations with them in the weeks and months to come. And thanks to David Hebden for running the program today, audio editors Stephen Frank for working his magic producer Rosette Sewali for all of her work and research that makes our program sound good and the tireless Kayla Rivara for making it all work behind the scenes. And everyone here at The Real News for making this show possible. So please let me know what you thought about, what you heard today, what you’d like us to cover. Just write to me at [email protected] and I’ll get right back to you. Once again, thank you to Alon-Lee Green for joining us today and for the work of Standing together. So for the crew here at The Real News, I’m Marc Steiner. Stay involved. Keep listening, and take care. ...read more read less