Faces of the Resistance: Standing Together on the I-80 Berkeley pedestrian overpass

    On Sunday 2/22, from 2 - 4 pm, six of us with SF Bay Area Friends of Standing Together (SF FoST) stood on the I-80 Berkeley pedestrian overpass to display banners promoting peace and justice in Israel-Palestine. You could say that SF FoST has the dragon tamer perspective, as described in the animated feature movie "How to Tame Your Dragon’: millions of Israelis and Palestinians live in the same small corner of the world; neither wants to go somewhere else; the only livable future is a shared future, where both learn to thrive alongside their erstwhile enemies. Simple to say, but of course arriving at that future will not be easy. As a friend of SF FoST, I want to believe that it's still possible.

Sasha Cutler's T-shirt reads "Protect Muslim Rights"

    We received honks of support about every 10 seconds, and some waves from jubilant motorists. On the overpass some were not happy with us. One person hurled "Zionist" as an epithet (evidently in response to Hebrew language signage). And a passing cyclist jabbed one of us hard with a finger (likely homophobia rather than a Mid-East statement). Such unpleasantries pale in the larger wag-the-dog context, with Trump diverting attention from Epstein embarrassments by threatening Iran. As well as the context of the ongoing, underreported carnage in Israel-Palestine. But the resistance is gathering force & Trump's poll numbers are fading. We freeway “bannerdeers” encourage American Jews, who are so prominent in the fight to save and deepen American democracy, to broaden their vision to include Palestinian rights to peace and equality. As one of our signs says, "End the Occupation to Free us All".

Sasha, amoeba, and me

Standing Together is a progressive grassroots movement organizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation and working for peace, equality, and social justice: https://www.standing-together.org/en

For SF FosT news and events: https://www.instagram.com/standing.together.sfbay/ 

And if you can, please join us March 1 in Oakland for a screening of The Other.