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

    On Sunday 2/22, from 2 - 4 pm, six of us from SF Bay Area Friends of Standing Together stood on the I-80 Berkeley pedestrian overpass to display banners promoting peace and justice in Israel-Palestine. You could say we share 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. I would like to believe it's still possible.

T-shirt reads "Protect Muslim Rights"

    We experienced a honk of support about every 10 seconds; someone who hurled "Zionist" as an epithet (evidently in response to Hebrew language signage); and a passing cyclist who 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 military strikes against Iran. But the resistance is gathering force & Trump's poll numbers are fading. We freeway bannerdeers encourage American Jews, 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 reads, "End the Occupation to Free us All".

Standing Together is a bi-national organization based in Israel/Palestine that is fighting for peace & equality for all. To find out more about their work, how you can help, and ST speaking tours, check out the SF FoST web presence: h https://www.instagram.com/standing.together.sfbay/ 

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