🧵 We’re at the People’s Peace Summit in Jerusalem - a conference organised by “It’s Time”, a coalition of over 60 peacebuilding and shared society orgs, working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement.

Thousands of people are here - 2/ Israelis, Palestinians & partners from across the globe. A sold out event with a wide spectrum of speakers calling for an immediate end to the war & return of all hostages, saying: this has to be the last war.

We started with a moment of silence for all victims of this war.

1/6 Every time there is a war in Israel-Palestine, there is a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred in the streets of Britain. The way in which Israel-Palestine is spoken about is inflammatory, often with conspiracy theories and fake news. 2/6 People too often can't distinguish between British Jews & the IDF or British Muslims & Hamas. This isn’t equivocating, it’s just a fact. The British Jewish community is small and the rise in antisemitism both online & offline is palpable.

1/Last week, we took a cross party delegation of six Members of Parliament to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We wanted British MPs to consider the UK's role in helping to set the region on a path - one of safety, security & freedom for Israelis and Palestinians.

2/We met with Israelis and Palestinians – survivors, victims of the conflict and leading human rights & peace advocates, as well as Israeli and Palestinian officials.
We wanted to show complexity of the region - and think about real policy that can make a difference.

1/Thread: Pro-Palestine protests

There has been a huge surge in antisemitism since last Saturday. Many in our community have been personally affected by the horrific violence unleashed by Hamas, and people are scared. There should be zero tolerance for pro-Hamas flags and chants 2/ - not to mention expressions of support for their atrocities, on the streets of London. However, we must not confuse support for the Palestinian people with support for Hamas. Palestinians and their supporters have the right to protest and expression -

1/8 THREAD: The Religious Zionist Party

Today Israel swore in the new Knesset. Netanyahu is advancing coalition talks to form a government.

His main partner will likely be the far-right Religious Zionist Party (RZP).

Full resource: yachad.org.uk/rzparty/#.Y3PI… 2/8 Background: RZP is a union of 3 small parties. The Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) and Noam. The union of the 3 was orchestrated by Netanyahu, strengthening the far-right and giving him a natural political partner.

THREAD: Our post about Herzog’s Chanukah plans sparked a lot of comments, so we wanted to address the issue of Hebron.

Hebron as a whole is part of the occupied West Bank.

H1 = technically the area of Hebron under Palestinian
H2 = under Israeli military control Less than 1,000 Israeli settlers are in H2 and almost 40,000 Palestinians. Sounds reasonable for so few Jews to live in an area holy to Jewish people, right?

Settlers living in the heart of an occupied city, dictates Palestinians daily lives & restrict their freedoms. /2

THREAD: some conclusions from today’s eventful settler violence conference.

First, every speaker praised rights orgs for raising awareness, for fighting for justice, educating and helping on the ground. Their work is so clearly invaluable.

@peacenowisrael @BtSIsrael @YeshDin /1

https://twitter.com/yachaduk/status/1462727081914155008

Next, MK @mossi_raz is evidently a crucial voice in the Knesset and especially in the coalition. He continuously ensures that the occupation is a topic that is discussed and places pressure on his party and others in the coalition to listen and take action. /2

The event has started with an interruption with far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir who screamed at the speakers and audience that they ought to be ashamed.

He has been removed from the hall.

https://twitter.com/YachadUK/status/1462722620982501378

.@mossi_raz opens the event, condemning yesterday’s terror attacks.

He makes it clear - we are against all violence, pointing to the fact that settler violence is one which remains untreated.

He calls for urgent action.

“I believe we have the power to make a difference.”

THREAD: We have thought a lot about whether to comment on Sally Rooney’s decision not to translate her latest book into Hebrew. Yachad does not support cultural and academic boycotts of Israel and we don’t endorse the BDS movement. 1/6 We believe in engagement and discussion with people we disagree with. We believe people have the right to non-violent protest and indeed that the debate around Sally Rooney has demonstrated just how toxic, lacking in nuance and divisive discussions on Israel Palestine are. 2/6