This is a worthy event for people to learn more about the crisis unfolding in Israel/Palestine.
But we want to take time to talk to the progressive Jewish institutions — @URJorg and @NCJW — who are cosponsoring it despite not saying anything condemning Israeli actions this week.
This is a moment for progressive Jewish leaders to grapple with the ways that they have enabled Israeli policies of displacement and oppression for decades.
And this is a moment to take action to make sure these Israeli policies come to an end.
Israel's commitment to Jewish supremacy is causing Palestinian families to lose their homes. It is causing Palestinian Muslim worshipers to be attacked on one of their holiest days.
American Jewish institutions must use the power they have to speak out and shift the status quo.
So @URJorg & @NCJW: thank you for cosponsoring this event, ensuring your members hear from trusted experts.
But your silence this week was unacceptable. Putting your logo on an event does not repair the damage. What actions will take to stop future Israeli displacement policies?
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We deleted a tweet that unintentionally amplified calls for violence against civilians. We shudder thinking of bombs falling on our loved ones in Tel Aviv.
To propagandists amplifying the error: stop your malicious attempts to distract from ongoing Israeli state violence.
We remain unapologetic in our solidarity with Palestinians facing state violence while struggling for their homes and their rights — this week & long before.
Anyone with any decency should be in support of an occupied people fighting for freedom, especially in moments like this.
Let’s be clear: attempts to cast Palestinians as exceptionally violent & hateful are racist.
They aim to distract us from the incredible violence being unleashed right now on Palestinian people and the hatred spewed at them by Jewish Israelis — in the streets and in Knesset.
This legislation is the greatest step yet towards #DefundingOccupation. Palestinian human rights advocates have fought long and hard for this, and it has the support of a wide coalition. We're proud to be part of it. theintercept.com/2021/04/14/isr…
McCollum's bill would stop U.S. aid from funding multiple occupation tactics. “I don’t want $1 of U.S. aid to Israel paying for the military detention and abuse of Palestinian children, the demolition of Palestinian homes, or the annexation of Palestinian land.”
"These calls have been fueled by reports of U.S.-made weapons being used to kill Palestinian civilians, whether with Hellfire missiles fired by Israeli fighter jets on homes in Gaza or with U.S.-made rifles used to gun down Palestinian protesters." It's past time for a change.
Today, in a big development on the politics of antisemitism, a group of scholars from Israel, the US, and Europe released the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. We welcome the JDA, as a viable alternative to the controversial and unhelpful IHRA definition. Full statement:
Self-appointed Jewish leaders have wielded the IHRA working definition to shield the Israeli government from accountability. They’ve muddied the waters about real antisemitism & misused resources needed to fight racist extremists that threaten our safety. jta.org/quick-reads/ne…
The JDA opens up much-needed political space for Palestinians and allies to organize for their rights instead of dealing with false accusations of antisemitism. It also makes it abundantly clear that support for anti-Zionism or the BDS movement isn't, on its face, antisemitic.
Polls just closed in Israel, its fourth election in two years. We send our love and support to the Palestinians and Israelis in the long-term struggle for a future of freedom & dignity.
We know that whoever is the next Prime Minister, today's winner is: Israeli apartheid. (1/5)
Today, 5 million Palestinians watched as an electorate of the other 9 million people in the region voted for a government that runs their lives.
Contrasting it to May's Palestinian election is farcical: the PA is a subcontractor for the occupation, not an autonomous state. (2/5)
Netanyahu has led Israelis through four elections to escape his political and legal problems. Still, like Trump, his cult of personality will persist.
That Netanyahu could stay in power shows that Israel is not a beacon of democracy, no matter how many times you say it. (3/5)
This is the most important Biden appointee you've never heard of.
It's a new era, we need a new envoy who will fight antisemitism with integrity — not someone like Abe Foxman who cares more about protecting the Israeli government than fighting racist extremists. #NewEraNewEnvoy
The old approach to fighting antisemitism failed to keep our community safe: Self-appointed Jewish leaders worked to silence Palestinian rights advocates, not stop violent antisemites.
Unfortunately, @POTUS' rumored contenders for the special envoy embody that outdated approach.
We need someone with integrity to hold the position of Special Envoy.
Someone who knows that neo-Nazis militias and conspiracy theorists are the real and truest threat to Jewish safety, not Palestinians and college students who criticize the Israeli government. #NewEraNewEnvoy
Comparisons that liken Palestinians, students, & advocates for Palestinian rights to Nazis and fascists — when neo-Nazis and fascists are attacking our nation and threatening our democracy — demonstrate that Andrew Yang is simply not serious about combatting antisemitism.
It shows no interest in connecting with the American Jewish community in all our diversity and complexity. Yang has made his candidacy about reaching out to young people, but young American Jews don’t want talking points that divide us from our neighbors and liberation movements.
Instead of repeating talking points designed to shield the Israeli government from accountability by intentionally blurring the line between criticism of Israel & antisemitism, Yang should listen to the generation of young Jews demanding freedom & dignity for all, no exceptions.