Amy Leos-Urbel, Tamar Taitz Fields and Rabbi Nancy Flam: Working together for peace

We are concerned that Gazette coverage of local Oct. 7 anniversary commemorations may perpetuate the false idea that one must be either pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian. Rather than taking sides, many members of the Jewish community and the greater community support organizations that resist the binary when it comes to human safety, dignity, equality and self-determination.

Groups like Standing Together, Combatants for Peace, Breaking the Silence, Parents Circle — Families Forum, the Sulha Peace Project, A Land For All and others, comprise a network of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel/Palestine committed to ending the occupation and building a shared future of justice and peace in the land. These groups recognize that there can be no military solution to this conflict and that instead we must work toward a viable, peaceful solution.

Here in the U.S., we support them. Locally, Western MA Friends of Standing Together holds a weekly vigil in downtown Northampton calling for a cease-fire and to bring the hostages home, to which all are welcome. We invite all to join with us to call out in our collective grief for all the lives lost to this insidious cycle of destruction and despair, and to say, “No more!”

Our vigil on Oct. 23 will focus on honoring and grieving for both Palestinians and Jews whose lives have been devastated and extinguished since Oct. 7, 2023. Anyone who would like to be on our mailing list or learn more about this vigil can send that request to Join our Local Chapter of Standing Together or bit.ly/STWMASS.

Amy Leos-Urbel, Tamar Taitz Fields and Rabbi Nancy Flam

Northampton