The Freedom Lecture: Standing Together

Alon-lee Green and Rula Daood lecture on justice and against the occupation of Palestinian land

Full equality between Israelis and Palestinians is necessary to bring down Israeli dominance, according to Standing Together. As the largest Jewish Arab grassroots movement in Israel, Standing Together wants to create an alternative to the current reality. Alon-lee Green, a Jewish Israeli activist, and Rula Daood, a Palestinian Israeli activist, will explain how they work from the principles of solidarity and collectivity towards justice. What is their path forward to convey their message?

Ever since 2015, Standing Together has tried to show Israeli citizens, unwilling to accept the status quo, that there is a powerful way to join forces, without erasing differences. Standing Together is against the occupation of Palestinian land and wants to debunk the myth that military oppression of Palestinians is needed for Jewish security. Against the ultranationalist campaigns of both Israel and Hamas, they provide a radical vision of collaboration and union. Tonight we reflect on the difficult reality on the ground: A far-right government in Israel and the deadly violence in Gaza and in The West Bank.

What tactics does Standing Together employ, what are the struggles on the ground ? Who is their support base? How do they deal with the variety of views on ending occupation and with people hostile to their message? What can activists here in the Netherlands learn from their work?


About the speakers:

Rula Daood
Rula Daood is the National co-Director of Standing Together and speech pathologist by profession. She is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, born and raised in the Galilee village of Kafr Yasif and began her activism in her home city and later became involved in promoting Jewish-Arab partnership in mixed (Jewish-Arab) cities. Before joining Standing Together, Rula worked as a community organizer, organizing events and protests that drew hundreds of activists.

Alon-lee Green
Alon-Lee Green is the National co-Director and a founder of Standing Together. He got his start organizing Israel’s first trade union of waiters in a chain of coffee-shops and went on to found Israel’s first National Waiters Union. Alon-Lee emerged as a prominent leader of Israel’s social protest movement in the summer of 2011, and subsequently