Standing Together Vienna (19.11.2023)
- volpoinbal
- Nov 12, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 8, 2024
A Jewish-Arab alliance for peace in the Middle East.
We stand together to commemorate the lives of Israeli and Palestinian civilians lost through terror and war. We mourn the more than thousand Israelis who were gruesomely killed in the terrorist attack by Hamas, and pray for the over a hundred women, men and children who were taken hostage. We mourn for the thousands of Palestinians who were killed and continue to be killed in the relentless assaults by the Israeli military in Gaza, and pray for the hundreds of thousands of families who were forced to leave their homes and face an uncertain future. There is no justification for killing civilians, whether committed in the name of a struggle against oppression or of a war against terror.
We stand together against selective grief. Every single innocent life lost is a tragedy and must be mourned with sincerity. We vehemently oppose the manipulation of grief as a tool to perpetuate violence. We will not let ourselves be divided by fear and hatred.
We stand in solidarity with all marginalized people in Vienna immediately affected by the ongoing war. We stand with our Jewish community who fear going to school, work or synagogue because of growing antisemitic incitement and hatred, and we stand with our Muslim, Arab or Palestinian communities, subjected to racist bias and often unjustly accused of supporting terrorism or antisemitism. We are united by the shared impact of these horrific events and bound together in our grief and mourning. Let’s commit to fighting antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism through lived solidarity with one another.
We stand together believing that all people in Israel and Palestine may live in freedom and safety. We call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli army’s bombings and mass expulsions of Palestinians. We call for a deal to release Israeli civilians held by Hamas and an end to the inhumane siege of Gaza. There is no just military solution to this conflict. Only equal rights for all and an end to the occupation will bring peace, justice, and security to Israelis and Palestinians alike.
For many of us, these past weeks have been extremely difficult. Uncertainty, confusion, and feelings of powerlessness prevail. Many of us have friends, family, and loved ones directly involved in the bloodshed. Let us stand together to give expression to these feelings.
When? Sunday, November 19, 16:00
Where? Platz der Menschenrechte, Mariahilferstraße 1, 1070, Vienna
A note about the event:
We people from different ethnic and religious groups are coming together in mourning and solidarity. To prevent any conflict, we will not permit any flags or logos of political organizations. We ask you to refrain from chanting or shouting in order not to disrupt people’s grieving. You are welcome to bring candles. Please note that no incitement nor bigoted language will be tolerated. We firmly stand together against any forms of racism, antisemitism, sexism and queerphobia.
………………………..
Zusammenstehen Wien
Ein jüdisch-arabisches Bündnis für den Frieden im Nahen Osten.
Wir stehen zusammen, um der israelischen und palästinensischen Zivilist*innen zu gedenken, die durch Terror und Krieg ihr Leben verloren haben. Wir trauern um die mehr als tausend Israelis, die bei dem Terroranschlag der Hamas auf grausame Weise ums Leben kamen, und beten für die über hundert Frauen, Männer und Kinder, die als Geiseln genommen wurden. Wir trauern um die tausenden Palästinenser*innen, die bei den unerbittlichen Angriffen des israelischen Militärs im Gazastreifen getötet wurden und weiterhin getötet werden, und beten für die hunderttausenden Familien, die gezwungen werden, ihre Häuser zu verlassen und einer ungewissen Zukunft entgegensehen. Es gibt keine Rechtfertigung für die Tötung von Zivilisten, ob sie nun im Namen eines Kampfes gegen Unterdrückung oder eines Krieges gegen den Terror begangen wird.
Wir stehen zusammen gegen selektive Trauer. Jedes einzelne verlorene unschuldige Leben ist eine Tragödie und muss mit Aufrichtigkeit betrauert werden. Wir wenden uns entschieden gegen die Manipulation von Trauer als Mittel zur Aufrechterhaltung von Gewalt. Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass wir durch Angst und Hass gespalten werden.
Wir stehen zusammen an der Seite aller ausgegrenzten Menschen in Wien, deren Leben durch den anhaltenden Krieg unmittelbar betroffen ist. Wir stehen mit unserer jüdischen Gemeinschaft, die Angst hat, zur Schule, zur Arbeit oder in die Synagoge zu gehen, weil antisemitische Hetze und Hass zunehmen, und wir stehen mit unseren muslimischen, arabischen und palästinensischen Gemeinschaften, die rassistischen Vorurteilen ausgesetzt sind und oft zu Unrecht beschuldigt werden, Terrorismus oder Antisemitismus zu unterstützen. Wir sind durch die gemeinsamen Auswirkungen dieser schrecklichen Ereignisse geeint und in unserer Trauer miteinander verbunden. Wir wollen uns verpflichten, Antisemitismus, Islamophobie und Rassismus durch gelebte Solidarität miteinander zu bekämpfen.
Wir stehen zusammen im Glauben, dass alle Menschen in Israel und Palästina in Freiheit und Sicherheit leben können. Wir fordern einen sofortigen Waffenstillstand und einen Stopp der Bombardierungen und Massenvertreibungen von Palästinenser*innen durch die israelische Armee. Wir fordern ein Abkommen zur Freilassung der von der Hamas gefangen gehaltenen israelischen Zivilist*innen und ein Ende der unmenschlichen Belagerung des Gazastreifens. Es gibt keine gerechte militärische Lösung für diesen Konflikt. Nur gleiche Rechte für alle und ein Ende der Besatzung werden Frieden, Gerechtigkeit und Sicherheit für Israelis und Palästinenser*innen gleichermaßen bringen.
Für viele von uns waren die letzten Wochen äußerst schwierig. Ungewissheit, Verwirrung und das Gefühl der Machtlosigkeit sind allgegenwärtig. Viele von uns haben Freunde, Familienangehörige und Angehörige, die direkt in das Blutvergießen verwickelt sind. Lasst uns zusammenstehen, um diesen Gefühlen Ausdruck zu verleihen.
Wann? Sonntag, 19. November, 16:00
Wo? Platz der Menschenrechte, Mariahilferstraße 1, 1070 Wien
Eine Anmerkung zu dieser Veranstaltung:
Wir Menschen aus verschiedenen ethnischen und religiösen Gruppen kommen in Trauer und Solidarität zusammen. Um eine weitere Zweckentfremdung der Trauer zu verhindern, werden wir keine Fahnen oder Logos von politischen Organisationen zulassen. Wir bitten Sie, von Sprechchören oder Rufen abzusehen, um die Trauer der Menschen nicht zu stören. Sie können gerne Kerzen mitbringen, aber bitte beachten Sie, dass keine Aufwiegelung oder Bigotterie geduldet wird. Wir stehen fest zusammen gegen jede Form von Rassismus, Antisemitismus, Sexismus und Queerphobie.
Program:
TBD
Statements from the event
Breaking the Silence
We at “Breaking the Silence”, are a group of former Israeli soldiers who served in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and have taken it upon ourselves to expose the public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories. By sharing our voices, and those of over 1,400 soldiers who have broken their silence,
we aim to bring an end to the occupation.
As an organization which firmly criticizes Israeli policy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on a daily basis, it is our moral duty to state things as they are: Last week, Hamas blatantly violated humanity’s basic moral norms.
The struggle for human rights does not differentiate between blood, between people of different religions, ethnicities and nationalities. The struggle for the legitimate rights of one nation cannot be an excuse to decimate the rights of another. That is a basic principle: not only of international law, but of simple moral decency. Without this, all that’s left is a cycle of blind, indiscriminate revenge. Those who find some kind of twisted theoretical logic in order to justify a massacre are not fighting for human rights, and push the goal of liberation and equality further out of reach.
This is also why we will continue to raise our voice against the harming of civilians. Within this horrific reality, our job as former Israeli soldiers is to talk about what we were sent to do, so that we understand not only how we got here, but also how to make sure we strive towards a better future.
Israel's security policy, for decades now, has been to “manage the conflict”. Successive Israeli governments insist on round after round of violence as if a military dictatorship and siege over millions is sustainable, let alone moral. They talk about “security”, “deterrence”, “changing the equation”.
All of these are code words for bombing the Gaza Strip to a pulp, always justified as targeting terrorists, yet always with heavy civilian casualties. In between these rounds of violence we make life impossible for Gazans, and then act surprised when it all boils over, all the while hoping the world will turn a blind eye to the open-air prison we built in our backyard.
Our steadfast opposition to the harming of innocent civilians is not only a basic principle of international law, but of simple moral decency. It remains our duty in these terrible times - to raise our voices loud and clear against the harming of all innocent civilians, both in Israel and Gaza.
As of today, over 1,400 Israelis and over 3,300 Palestinians have been killed since last week. Over 200 Israelis are held hostage in Gaza. We call on our government to act now to ensure their immediate release while also calling on them to stop implementing a policy that led and will continue to lead to the killing of countless innocent civilians.
The idea that we can "manage the conflict" without ever having to solve it is once again collapsing before our eyes. It held up until now because only few dared to challenge it. These heartbreaking events could change that. They must. Our stande is clear: every human being deserves a life of safety and freedom. Palestinians and Israelis both.
Breaking the Silence
The villages group
October 16, 2023
Greetings to all our friends, both familiar and unfamiliar
On Sunday, October 15th, we visited the South Hebron Hills for the first time since war broke out. There too the unthinkable has been taking place. Our friends there suggested we do not try to get to their villages for fear of running into the army and the colonists who are present on all the approach routes.
We decided, then, to get to a community that is approachable from inside Israel-proper, since the Separation Fence separates it from the rest of the West Bank and this village remained on the “Israeli” side of the fence. Its villagers have a hard time getting to their hubs of life in the West Bank even on “peace” days (they need special transit permit for the Israeli checkpoint). All the more now, in a reality where driving to the region’s town of Yatta has become even more difficult on roads blocked by the army and colonists. We bought basic food stuffs in our neighbor Bedouin town Rahat, and reached this village at noon.
We sat in the home of Osman, his wife Rawan and their small children. Some of Osman’s brothers joined us, too. Osman opened with words that could have sounded celebratory if uttered at a different time. But they were said during our first meeting since that horrible Saturday, October 7th, on which Hamas carried out its horrific massacre of the inhabitants of Israeli communities near the fence that separates them from the Gaza Strip, followed by Israel’s all-out war against Gaza and Palestinians in general. Osman said the following: “First of all I wish to say that we are a people of peace. Your pain is ours too. These things are just not done. We are against murder on all sides. Justice and law must be the order of the day.” This is what he said. Clear, coherent, as though he were delivering an unequivocal historic declaration. “Secondly”, he continued, “we thank you for having brought us food, but even had you come bearing nothing, we would be overjoyed. Even your phone call, asking how we are, already makes us happy.”
He then told us how he received a permit from the DCO commander (the Israeli army’s military branch in charge of Palestinian civilian matters) to get to Yatta for two hours of shopping, and how, although accompanied by a DCO officer, the colonists stopped them and wanted to take them out of the car and harass them. The officer did not comply, and they held a heated argument and only the officer’s determination managed to stay off the wild, violent colonists who do as they please, backed up by the Israeli army.
The ties created by Osman and his brothers with the DCO have existed long before last week’s events. They were created when Osman turned time and again to the DCO in order to receive help protecting fields belonging to him and his family members, land which colonists of the Talya Ranch – a violent colonist family who hate their Palestinian neighbors – have been brutally stealing from its rightful owners.
“After Saturday’s horrific deeds”, says Osman, “I head an interview with one of the Talya Ranch members who said his mother had been murdered at Kibbtz En Ha-Shlosha while there helping her daughter who had just given birth. A day or two ago, one of the Talya Ranch people came to us, all ready for revenge. I said to him: ‘We shall go on fighting over land, but now I weep with you for your murdered mother. Now is not the time to fight. Now is the time to mourn and I am with you.’ The man from Talya Ranch stopped, said ‘Friends…’, turned around and left.”
Just as Osman finished telling us this, the phone rang. It was Nasser from A-Tawane: “Right now,” said Nasser, his voice nearly stifled, “the colonists are destroying Abu Hani’s home and small garden with its vines. They are destroying everything, not leaving a single thing. Abu Hani, his wife and daughter are standing at some distance, watching it all happen.” Nasser says this and I fall silent. We made Abu Hani’s acquaintance a few months ago. Abu Hani had a lone house on his field. Five years ago, the army demolished his home, and in its stead Abu Hani built a tiny house with a small vineyard and sheep, and a single water hole, living there with his wife and daughter. Abu Hani is an elderly man. Good hearted and industrious. He wants very little from life. When I told him on our first visit that I have nothing to bring him but my heart, he held out a bunch of grapes which he had picked from his arbor, and said: “And that is all I need.” On our last visit there three weeks ago, he said: “On your next visit we’ll celebrate. With our partners too.” He said this and we promised.
There will be no next visit. I wanted so much to be near him, but couldn’t – the way there was blocked by colonists and soldiers.
Osman asked us to buy him medication. We took the prescription, played with his children a bit, and parted.
At home, I am breathing into my heart that is still trying to contain the horrors of that awful Saturday, and the terror of bombed-out Gaza, and wonder whether there will still be room for the horrors taking place in the South Hebron Hills. My heart answers – that always in such situations, now is not the time to ask questions. Now is a time to help whoever is needy, and support them with the necessary measure of compassion and generosity which cannot rescue, but do the best I can.
Erella and Ehud.
The villages group
Yesh Din
Yesh Din is horrified by the criminal and cruel attack on citizens of Israel. A nation fighting for its freedom is not exempt from the moral and legal rules governing the conduct of armed conflict that humanity has adopted. The legitimate aspiration for freedom does not justify the crime against humanity committed by Hamas on October 7. We share the pain of the families of the victims, the kidnapped, and the wounded. Yesh Din’s Executive Director, Ziv Stahl, was herself trapped inside a bomb shelter with her fam ily in Kibbutz Kfar Azza on October 7, fearing for her life, while Hamas massacred a significant percentage of the community right outside the door, including a member of her own family. Her personal account of the attack was described in an op-ed was published in Haaretz newspaper on October 15, describes the attack on her community , while urging the Government of Israel not to take the path of revenge and violence, but rather to work towards a political solution.
While vehemently condemning the acts of Hamas, we at Yesh Din, express deep shock at the disaster unfolding in Gaza as a result of the Israeli response. The horrors that Hamas has perpetrated against innocent civilians do not justify committing crimes against the civilian population in Gaza.
In these painful and difficult days in Israel and the Gaza Strip – Yesh Din remains committed to reporting the reality unfolding in the West Bank, where settler violence and acts of revenge against Palestinians run rampant under the cover of war. According to our data, since Saturday, October 7, at least 61 Palestinians have been killed by live ammunition in the West Bank. The military blocked the entrance and exit of many villages in different areas of the West Bank, and in most major routes travel is allowed only for Israeli settlers, while obstructing Palestinian travel and freedom of movement. In these past days since the war broke out on October 7, Israeli settlers have carried out dozens of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. The settler attacks have taken place within the villages themselves, on the roads, and in agricultural lands and have employed means of violence including shooting, injuring, setting fires, damaging property and uprooting trees. Instead of upholding their duty to protect Palestinians according to International and Israeli law, there is evidence that soldiers are allowing the violence to continue, sometimes assisting settlers while attacking Palestinians, or joining in. Two events of particular severity occurred during the past week:
In the West Bank village of Qusrah, on October 11, armed settlers raided the village and were documented shooting and throwing stones at homes. The military joined shortly, and as a result of the attack, four Palestinians were killed - apparently by settlers. Just a day later, the settlers proceeded to attack the funeral of the deceased, shooting live ammunition while the military and police were present. Two more Palestinians were killed during this attack – both a father and his son.
Another especially severe outcome of the intensified attacks under the cover of the war in Gaza, is the forcible transfer of Bedouin communities such as Wadi al-Seeq, east of Ramallah. The Wadi al-Seeq community is one of the last ones left in that area since the establishment of illegal Israeli shepherding outposts 3-4 years ago, outposts that are supported by the Israeli government. This is yet another community uprooted from their homes due to the coercive environment and terrorizing reality created by these outposts. The settlers are exploiting the diversion of attention to Gaza to deepen the violence in the areas in which the remaining of these Palestinian shepherding communities still reside, in order to displace them through violence. The forcible transfer of Palestinian communities cannot go unnoticed.
Violence in the West Bank as a whole is escalating, and we cannot afford to ignore it. The severity and the frequency are becoming more intense with every passing day, and the international community must act.
Yeah Din
Photos from the event