As Ben Gvir declares who is the "landlord" in Israel, Jews and Arabs in Yaffo refuse to be enemies

During yesterday's "flag parades" around Israel, where some chanted "death to Arabs", I joined a very different protest in Jaffa, where a very different message is being sounded.

Yesterday, at the same time that the Ben Gvir crowd was marching with Israeli flags and chants of "death to Arabs", I attended a peaceful protest gathering in Yaffo of Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Arabs who refuse to be enemies.

This is a particularly challenging time for Arabs and Jews in Yaffo to come together. Not only because of the racism that is raging in our society and in certain corners of the government. But also because a thousand Palestinian families in Yaffo are facing eviction. This housing crisis, which has been brewing for years and which threatens the basic housing security of an entire community (and which I have been writing about for two years), is being dubbed a ticking time bomb. Over the past few months, families one after another are receiving notices that they have to vacate homes that they have been living in for decades. All that while Ben Gvir screams to the world that Jews are LITERALLY the owners of this home (Ba'alei Habayit).

Despite all this, Jews and Arabs stood side by side in the park on Yefet Street for a gathering organized by Standing together and Kulna Yaffa and attended by Knesset members and Tel Aviv council members. There we shared a vision for a different Israel. I'm proud that I participated. But I am truly terrified about what is happening here.

Scenes from the Yaffo gathering

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