On Sunday, November 19 Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment held a Silent Stand Out in Watertown Square calling for an end to the hostilities and killing in
Palestine and Israel. About 100 people from Watertown, Arlington, Belmont, Newton, Cambridge, Waltham, and Boston lined all the streets converging at the square holding signs declaring opposition to the brutal murders taking place in Gaza. We oppose killings and oppressions by anyone. This includes murder, taking of hostages, holding political prisoners, bombing of civilian targets, blockades, unlawful annexations of land, harassments by illegal settlers, and withholding of humanitarian aid. The current military support by the American government which supports
the Israeli government unconditionally is equally unjustifiable. The support from passing vehicles was terrific.
After the standout, we heard from speaker Assaf Kfoury of Palestinian and Lebanese background who is a mathematician and a member of the Palestine-Israel working group of
MAPA. He spoke passionately about the disproportionate response of Israel to the October 7 attack by Hamas, and of the devastating destruction of health facilities and other sources of
humanitarian aid in Gaza. He spoke of the incredible number of Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza. The media has tried to convince us that this genocide of the indigenous people
of Palestine is necessary to prevent another holocaust of the Jewish population of Israel, and that no one has the right to invoke the holocaust other than Jews. The legacy of the
Holocaust belongs to all peoples on planet. Earth Never Again. Remember this: the violence of the oppressed is always condemned as terrorism, the violence of the oppressor is
invariably excused as counter-terrorism – and they always want us to believe that counter-terrorism is good and a virtue, even though it is backed up by tanks, artillery, howitzers, jet
fighters, aircraft carriers, nuclear weapons, and what not – the most devastating weapons available today, none at the disposal of the oppressed.
We then heard from Abby Yanow, member of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment, of Jewish Voice for Peace, and of the Palestine-Israel working group of MAPA.
Abby spoke of the heartbreak of the events in both Israel and Palestine. “For us, the divide is not between Israelis and Palestinians but rather, between those who believe in the use of
violence to resolve conflicts and those who do not. My activism comes from the tradition of tikunna lam, which means ‘repairing the world’. We are seeing genocide and ethnic cleansing
right now in Gaza. It is impossible not to see it. I feel heartbroken and ashamed that we haven’t learned from history. We are all outraged that the US is providing the arms and the
bombs for this invasion, paid for by our tax dollars. Starting from the baseline of my Zionist upbringing, it took me several years of political education to be able to acknowledge the
veracity of the Palestinian narrative. I grieve the senseless deaths of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians and right now I grieve the slaughter of Gazan civilians.
After our scheduled speakers, several people from the community spoke. We met new allies in our efforts for peace and hope that they will join us and strengthen our efforts in the future.