Sydney Friends of Standing Together event calls for peace
The peace group, aligned with global movement Standing Together, held a rally in Sydney on 4 May in support of Jerusalem peace summit
May 19, 2025
written by Rev Lindsay Cullen, Assembly Associate General Secretary
Sydney Friends of Standing Together (SFOST) is a group aligned with Standing Together, which describes itself as “a progressive grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation and for peace, equality, and social justice.”
Recently SFOST was involved in organising a rally on Sunday 4 May in Sydney near the Town Hall, aimed at coinciding with and supporting the large peace summit It’s Time, which was held in Jerusalem on 8-9 May. More than 20 cities around the world held rallies in support, and thousands attended events in Jerusalem.
"I spoke of the teaching of Jesus – drawn from the Jewish scriptures, that we should love our neighbour; that Jesus made clear with his story of the Good Samaritan that ‘neighbour’ does not just apply to those who look like and think like us."
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I was privileged to be asked to speak at the Sydney event on behalf of the Uniting Church in Australia. Sydney Friends of Standing Together described this as an opportunity to stand in solidarity and recognise that it is time to:
- stop the killing, bombing and starvation
- return all hostages
- end the occupation
- listen to the people
- promote peace for all.
These aims are very consistent with the things our own UCA Assembly Standing Committee, and the Assembly, have been calling for since April 2024.
I began by focussing on the recent election, and in particular the concession and acceptance speeches made by Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese. The graciousness of these speeches pointed to the need to humanise our opponents.
I spoke of the teaching of Jesus – drawn from the Jewish scriptures, that we should love our neighbour, and that Jesus made clear with his story of the Good Samaritan that ‘neighbour’ does not just apply to those who look like and think like us, but to those who may be quite different to us, those who are in need.
I commend the organisers and the attendees for their commitment to ongoing calls for peace, and it would be my hope that members of the UCA would continue to live into our call to be peacemakers.
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