Standing Together

People pass a sign in Hebrew and Arabic that reads: ‘People of Jaffa, we will go through this together’ outside a cultural community centre. Photograph: Gali Tibbon/the Guardian

 
In Jaffa and Tel Aviv, a growing band of local people are standing together to protect civilians and foster peace.
“These are extreme times. People are still processing the Hamas attack and the war in Gaza. People are in survival mode and thinking in black and white,” said Nadav Shofet, Standing Together’s lead community organiser in Tel Aviv and Jaffa.
One slender reason for hope is sharp rise in volunteers since the war began, members of the NGO say. Since the Hamas attacks in southern Israel in October, which killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, thousands have joined the organisation.
During the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has so far killed about 18,000 people, mostly women and children, and destroyed swaths of the territory, more have come forward to work with the group.
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