Giving Up is Not an Option

In Israel, we have seen thousands take to the streets in protest—against the government, against the decision to return to war rather than continue negotiations, and against Netanyahu’s increasingly anti-democratic power grabs, including his attempts to fire Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

We have seen Palestinian Knesset member Ayman Odeh call on his fellow Palestinian citizens of Israel to join the protest movement, strengthen its numbers, and increase the chances of toppling the Netanyahu government.

And we have seen former hostages at these protests or speaking out on social media, expressing the pain and fear of knowing that war has resumed.

Amidst all this, we continued with our annual spring conference and speakers tour—co-presented by the New Israel Fund of Canada and Canadian Friends of Peace Now—bringing Israeli, Palestinian, and American voices to Ottawa and Montreal this past week, and to Toronto this coming Sunday.

Last year, we embarked on a similar tour, as the first organizations within the Canadian Jewish Zionist community to bring voices advocating for peace, diplomacy, and an end to the war.

At that time, six months had passed since October 7. A single hostage release and ceasefire deal had freed just over 100 hostages. Iran had directly attacked Israel. As we asked ourselves where we go from here, it was hard to imagine that nearly a year later, we would be having the same conversations—that hostages would still be languishing in Gaza, that Palestinian civilians would still be living under bombardment, deprived of essential humanitarian aid.

It is overwhelming, frightening, and deeply disheartening. It can feel as though the “bad guys” are winning, that our voices don’t matter. But what we’ve witnessed this week reminds us otherwise—our voices matter deeply.

We heard Shahira Shalaby, co-executive director of the Abraham Initiatives, speak about what true shared society looks like. That "shared living" is to coexist within a community, but true shared society is to share political and social power.

We heard Ron Gerlitz, CEO of aChord, share the complexities of Jewish Israeli public sentiment - that despite all the fear and insecurity, a comprehensive regional peace agreement is the desired solution among a majority of the Israeli public.

We heard Madeleine Cereghino, director of government relations at the New Jewish Narrative, discuss strategies for preserving democracy as US President Trump attempts to erode America's democratic institutions.

The choice to keep fighting, to hold on to hope, and to believe in a better future is not optional—because giving up means abandoning these speakers and the countless others directly impacted by this reality every day.

The forces that celebrate renewed fighting over the return of hostages, that call for war crimes instead of peace negotiations, and that work to deepen division, hatred, and animosity—they want us to give up.

They want us to feel defeated, weak, and hopeless.

It is up to us to remain defiant. To stand firm. To fight for what is right and just.

If you are in Toronto and haven’t yet secured your ticket for our Sunday conference, a limited number remain available. We hope you will join us.

Now, more than ever, we must strengthen our community, stand together, and recommit ourselves to the vision of Israel that binds us to it—a vision of democracy, peace, and freedom for all its citizens, living in peace with its neighbours.

We can only get there if we work together. And it is precisely in the toughest moments that we must work our hardest.