Standing Together is a nongovernmental organization that is trying to improve relations between Israel's Jewish and Arab populations. It is a challenging, and important, time to undertake this mission. "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 organizer in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Standing Together is organizing craft classes to bring both Arab and Israeli children together. "We don't want kids to be afraid of each other and hate each other. Here, they get to know each other and the parents get to meet," said Amir Badran, a local politician, leader, and organizer for Standing Together. Founded in 2016, the organization also has set up food distributions for those experiencing economic hardship, held a series of well-attended rallies, and created an unarmed joint Arab-Jewish "civil guard" to protect all communities and alert police in the event of violence.
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