“Yes, yes, to peace; No, no, to the occupation,” chanted an Israeli peace activist through a megaphone Friday afternoon, November 27, as he perched on a guard rail on Route 60, wearing a neon yellow safety vest. Around him stood several hundred Israeli and Palestinian activists, from the bi-national group “Combatants for Peace” and the new peace movement “Standing Together.” Led by drummers, they had marched down Route 60 toward the checkpoint to Jerusalem and stopped to hold a protest where the road divides one branch in the direction of the Har Gilo settlement, the other to the Palestinian city of Beit Jala.

Demonstrators march along Route 60 near Beit Jala. (Photo: “Standing Together”)

Some of the activists waved large Palestinian flags that fluttered next to the passing cars; others held olive branches. They held up signs that read: “There is another way” and “We stand together against the occupation.” “We live in difficult times,” Israeli activist Maytal Lochoff told the group through a megaphone. “Innocent people are dying every day and it is hard to see how this will end,” she said. “The brave thing to do is to find what is common between us and use that as a base to build a better tomorrow. Let’s break the violence and change the future,” she said.

Rami Elhanan, related to the activists how his daughter Smadar, 14, was killed in a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem, and that since then he has been dedicated to working towards peace. “I came today to protest the ongoing violence and the ongoing killing of children,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

Ahmed Hilo, a Palestinian activist from Jericho blamed the Palestinian violence on Israeli policies such as roadblocks, the building of settlements, and closures against Palestinian villages. “We came here, today, to non-violently end the occupation. We are protesting here together, Israelis and Palestinians, who want to live side-by-side in peace,” Hilo said. “We are standing on Palestinian land that more than 137 nations have recognized, but Israel has refused to recognize it or our right to live here in freedom and peace,” he said. “We are sending our message to the Israeli people; the occupation and the settlements are the basis of the violence and the fear and the lack of security. There is no military solution to this conflict. The last day of the occupation is the first day of peace. Without peace there won’t be security for the Israelis or freedom for the Palestinians,” Hilo added.

Former Hadash MK Mohammed Barakeh, now chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel, said that the gestures of Israel’s far-right government to the Palestinians won’t ease the violence. “We are not looking for a cosmetic solution to occupation; it will remain ugly and unjust and must be ended,” he said, adding that it is not possible for normalcy and peace to rule in the West Bank when the occupation creates such an abnormal and “brutal” situation for the Palestinians. “We are sorry for every drop of blood that is spilled on either side, but those who want to end the violence must move the checkpoints back to the ’67 line, which would then be a border for the two peoples,” Barakeh said.

The demonstrators called to dismantle the settlements and end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. They also chanted slogans against violence and in support of Jewish-Arab cooperation. At the end of the procession the protesters gathered next to the “tunnels checkpoint,” where a few speakers from “Combatants for Peace” gave speeches, noting that it should not be taken for granted that in days like these Jews and Arabs would take to the streets together to call for a non-violent end to the occupation.

The protest was organized by “Combatants for Peace” as part of its new initiative, “Standing Together,” an attempt to organize various movements and political parties in the name of Jewish-Arab cooperation against violence and the occupation. “Standing Together” also organized a large protest in Jerusalem last month, one in Haifa and near the southern Arab-Bedouin city of Rahat, along with various smaller events.

Related:

Jerusalem Rally vs. the Occupation: Jews & Arabs Refuse to Be Enemies