We reached the goal!

Together, we reached the goal – thank you for your support!

Over the summer, Friends of Standing Together Sweden participated in Standing Together’s annual fundraising campaign alongside FoST groups around the world. The campaign helps fund efforts to mobilize Palestinians in Israel (around 20 percent of the population) to exercise their civil rights and vote in this autumn’s Knesset election; the work of Standing Together’s “Solidarity Guard,” which provides protective presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; as well as the work of student chapters across the country and activities at the regional “Purple Houses,” where local meetings, planning, and activist training take place.

FoST Sweden’s own goal was to collect USD 5,000 a goal that we manage to reach. Many thanks to everyone who contributed and helped us meet our goal; this is something we can be proud of together. Globally, larger anonymous donors matched all contributions, as in previous years, doubling the total amount raised. Standing Together set an overall target of 100,000 shekels (about USD 33,000), and by the time the campaign concluded in July, the goal had been exceeded by a wide margin.

Leaders of Standing Together form a political party

On June 16, a group of senior Standing Together (ST) figures announced that they had formed a political party planning to run in October’s Knesset elections. The party, called “A Place for Us All” (in Arabic and Hebrew), aims to advance the same goals as ST: an end to the occupation, and equality and justice for everyone in Israel-Palestine. Its leadership includes five people with ST backgrounds: former co-directors Rula Daood and Alon‑Lee Green, as well as Itamar Avneri, Sally Abed, and Ghadir Hani. They are joined by Yonatan Zeigen, a peace activist and founder of the Vivian Silver Prize, and Avraham Burg who is a former Speaker of the Knesset and former member of Knesset, previously active in the Labor and Hadash parties. 

The party is formally and substantively separate from Standing Together as a movement and has no financial or organizational ties to ST. In light of this, the ST-affiliated leaders have taken a time-out from their leadership roles within ST. The party is a joint Jewish-Arab initiative. According to its founders, the decision to form the party was motivated by the desire to contribute a long-term vision for peace to Israeli politics and to model both coexistence and Jewish-Palestinian political partnership aimed at achieving equal voice and power.

The party has attracted some international attention, including this CNN interview with Rula Daood and Alon‑Lee Green.

In July, a fundraising webinar in support of the new party was moderated by actress Natalie Portman (see Haaretz coverage).

Polls so far show relatively low support for the party, which has said it will run only if it assesses that it has a realistic chance of clearing the 3.25% electoral threshold.

Two urgent developments in the West Bank: Khan al-Ahmar and Qusra

The displacement of Palestinians from their homes and farmland in the West Bank continues, whether through overt violence or through administrative actions. In recent months, two places have been in the spotlight: the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar east of Jerusalem, and the village of Qusra southeast of Nablus. Below is a summary of the situation and on-the-ground responses.

Khan al-Ahmar is located in the so-called E1 area. Following a decision by the military Civil Administration in 2017, the village is slated to be cleared by forcibly transferring its Palestinian residents. In practice, the plan would pave the way for Israeli annexation through new settlements. Israel’s Supreme Court has temporarily slowed implementation, but after a new decision on May 19 by the minister in charge, Bezalel Smotrich, the threat of demolition became acute. In response, activists have organized marches and a protective presence on the ground to draw attention to and prevent a demolition.

Standing Together, along with several other organizations, has been maintaining a presence on the ground to help prevent the demolitions of homes in the village from being carried out.

See:

Read more: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): Israel must halt forcible displacement of Khan al Ahmar and settlement expansion in E1 .

Qusra is a Palestinian village located southeast of Nablus. As of this writing, August 31, 2026, several families’ homes have been under siege for about three weeks.  Armed settlers are preventing families from moving freely and blocking the entry of food and other supplies. Together with other organizations, activists from Standing Together, including its Solidarity Guard, have attempted to break the siege and have managed to deliver some aid. At the same time, the Israeli military has declared the village a closed military zone, which bans activists from being there, but ST and others are maintaining their presence to assist the besieged families.

See updates: