Poking Holes in the Mainstream Media’s March to War

Over the last days, there have been more than 1,100 Palestinians killed and 1,200 Israelis. The pain is devastating. Every single life is precious. And now, the U.S. wants to arm Israel to destroy as many lives as possible. 

Amid a wave of one-sided media coverage without any context — and as our elected officials beat the drums of war — many are looking to Jewish Voice for Peace for moral clarity. Below, you’ll find a roundup of JVP members, chapters, and national staff in the U.S. media. This page will be updated regularly in the coming days.

Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators stage impassioned protests in New York, The New York Times, October 8, 2023

“Nearby, Sarah Schulman, an English professor at Northwestern University and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, said she condemns ‘any acts of brutality or murder against civilians.'”

“‘Decades of brutality towards Palestinians, in which people have been murdered, incarcerated and displaced unjustly have made conditions untenable, and I believe that they exploded,’ she added.”

Palestinian Americans decry negative media portrayals, fear hate crimes, The Washington Post, October 19, 2023

“Some Jewish American groups have vocally shown support for Palestinians, even as antisemitism is also on the rise. Jewish activist groups If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace have been “on the ground, shoulder to shoulder” with protesters clamoring for peace in Gaza, according to Maksut, and on Tuesday, over 100 Jewish groups signed a statement condemning “Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, antisemitism, and all forms of bigotry.”

Jewish Grief Must Not Be Used as a Weapon of War, The Nation, October 13, 2023

“It is in our tradition to sit shiva for seven days—to pause to reflect and to mourn. But I cannot sit back while Jewish grief and trauma is weaponized by the Israeli government to destroy Gaza. As I write this, Israel just announced that the 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza—half of them children—will have 24 hours to flee, which the UN has already deemed impossible. The US government is beating the drums of war, rushing to send more weapons to the Israeli military to wreak utter devastation. 

We do not need to choose between grieving and acting. As our forebears taught us, we must mourn the dead by fighting like hell for the living.”

-Stefanie Fox, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace: ‘What must emerge from this horrifying time is a commitment to a future of peace’, NBC News, October 9, 2023

“What must emerge from ongoing turmoil in Israel and Gaza is ‘a commitment to a future of peace,’ said Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a grassroots progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization.

‘The pain and trauma of this moment is so raw and real for all sides, and we believe that what must emerge from this horrifying time is a commitment to a future of peace that’s rooted in justice and freedom and equality for all people,’ Fox said.

But that cannot happen, Fox said, without acknowledging what she said is the root cause of the violence: ’75 years of Israeli dispossession and discrimination and state violence on Palestinians.’

‘Reality is shaped by when you start the clock, you know, and while the Israeli government may have just declared war, its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago,’ Fox said.

Jewish Voice for Peace is hopeful for a better future in the region.

‘We believe in a future of a just peace that’s rooted in equality and dignity and freedom, where there is a society rooted in belonging not domination, in equality, rather than discrimination, in a shared actual multiracial democracy instead of apartheid and occupation,’ Fox said. ‘And we believe that that is possible if we are very focused in this moment.'”

We’re anti-Zionist Jews and we see genocide unfolding in Gaza, The Guardian, October 18, 2023

“As Jews, we wholly condemn this. We condemn our representatives’ unconditional support for Israeli policy, which has facilitated a decades-long occupation recognized by the majority of the world as a violation of international law. We condemn any action that will involve our people in another genocide – whether as perpetrators or oppressed.

We call on our lawmakers to do the same. Funding a potential genocide in our name is not an antidote to antisemitism: they are betraying the Jews they claim to support.“

-Ariel Koren and Ellen Brotsky, a volunteer with JVP-Bay Area

What do leftist critics of Israel do now?, Vox, October 20, 2023

“’That resolution represents what most of us actually want to see,’ Beth Miller, the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, one of the groups that organized the Monday protest, told Vox. ‘The most important thing for our members of Congress to understand and for the general American public to understand is that there is no military solution to what is happening right now. Israel is dropping bombs on entire families and neighborhoods of people, and it will not solve anything. It will only lead to more violence in the long run.’”

Daily Show, Democracy Now! October 12, 2023

‘This is how I show up for my people’: Eruption in Israel-Palestinian conflict sends shockwaves of grief, rage across Greater Boston, Boston Globe, October 10, 2023

“Displaying a ‘Jews for Palestinian rights’ pin on her jacket, Jill Charney waved a banner at the front of the crowd that read, ‘Boston Jews Say Free Palestine.’ Charney said she came into the city from Newton for the demonstration because ‘the fact that Jews push their apartheid policies in my name is abhorrent, and the fact that my US tax dollars help fund these policies is particularly upsetting.’

Like other Palestinian supporters, Charney stressed that ‘nobody wants violence, but when freedoms are denied, humans will fight at any cost’ to regain them.

‘Palestinians have been squashed, their houses demolished, their water contaminated, and their movements monitored,’ she said. ‘There’s a context for what’s going on that goes back 75 years, and when people are oppressed, they will fight for justice, no matter what.'”

Tlaib and Bush called to end violence in Israel and Gaza. Then fellow Democrats attacked, The Intercept, October 11, 2023

“’There have been almost no members of Congress who have so much as even acknowledged the fact that, in addition to the horrific killing of Israeli civilians, there have been Palestinian civilians who have been killed by the Israeli military and by Israeli settlers,’ said Beth Miller, political director of the progressive anti-occupation group Jewish Voice for Peace Action.

‘What they said should not have been remotely controversial,’ Miller said. ‘And the fact that people like Josh Gottheimer — who has spent his career moving us further and further away from any possible future where both Palestinians and Israelis can be free and safe — that he would dare attack them for mourning both Palestinian and Israeli lives shows how far and wildly off base he is and how much he is beating the drums of war right now.’” 

Opinion | The Israeli-Hamas War (Letter to the Editor), The Washington Post, October 11, 2023

“’No, American Jews do not feel solidarity about Israel. I am proudly part of a long lineage of anti-Zionist Jews who believe everyone deserves to live with full freedom and dignity, including Palestinians.’”

-Jay Saper, JVP-New York member

Jewish group in the Triangle calling for support for Palestinians from NC leaders, CBS17, October 16, 2023

“Dozens of people with the Jewish Voice for Peace’s North Carolina Chapter stood outside of Congresswoman Valerie Foushee’s office calling on support for Palestinian civilians.

‘As a Jewish person, I cannot watch the U.S. and Israel fund a genocide against the Palestinians. Not in my name, not ever,’ said Julia Springer. They live in the Triangle. On Monday Springer and others asked Foushee to do three things:

Deescalate, call for a ceasefire in Israel and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

‘They’re running out of power, water, food, innocent civilians need that aid immediately,’ said Springer. ‘It’s devastating. I feel gutted watching innocent Palestinian civilians get caught in this militarized fight from Israel.‘”

American Jews feel pain of Hamas attack on Israel, Yahoo News, October 9, 2023

“‘The Israeli government may have just declared war, but its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago,’ said Jewish Voices for Peace, a group that opposes Israel, on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. ‘Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression — are the source of all this violence.’”

Jewish Coloradan protesters ask Rep. Diana Degette to support Israel-Palestinian ceasefire bill, NBC Colorado, October 20, 2023

“Evan Weissman, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, says it’s important to hold local leaders accountable. 

‘We had people meet with her yesterday and some are meeting today,’ Weissman said. ‘So far she says she’s looking into it, but she’s not sure. That’s why we are calling on her to say, ‘you need to do this!'”

Minnesotans gather to show support for Israel, Palestinians, Star Tribune, October 10, 2023

“Five miles to the east, more than 80 people gathered in a lot next to the Midtown Global Market to hold a shiva, or Jewish mourning ritual, to grieve for Israeli and Palestinian lives lost and pray for justice and an end to ‘Israeli apartheid and occupation.’ Attendees at the event, sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace-Twin Cities and IfNotNow Twin Cities, held signs saying, ‘Our motto is life’ and ‘Violence is inevitable in settler colonialism.’

The Beth El Synagogue event ‘is about Jews standing first and foremost and only for Israel,’ Or Levinson, who with a group of Jewish friends organized the event, told mourners. ‘And it felt extremely important to us to provide as visible of a counternarrative as we possibly can. … It is so important for us to gather in a way that shows the world and shows those who would co-opt our grief and co-opt our fear that Zionism does not stand for Judaism.’

Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, another organizer, said she wanted to create a space for many Jewish people who are critical of Israel’s past, along with its plans for retaliating against Gaza for the Hamas attack.

‘That is not what we think brings justice and peace,’ Rosenberg said.”

Everything Gal Gadot Has Said About Israel Attack by Hamas, Newsweek, October 9, 2023

“Another prominent Palestinian to share his thoughts was comedian Mohammed Amer, who starred in his own Netflix series, Mo, and was a series regular on Ramy.

Amer shared a statement from the Jewish Voice for Peace organization to his Instagram stories.

‘The Root of Violence is Oppression. Inevitably, oppressed people everywhere will seek — and gain — their freedom. We all deserve liberation, safety, and equality. The only way to get there is by uprooting the sources of the violence, beginning with our own government’s complicity,’ read JVP’s statement.”

As a Jew, I understand that the root of violence in Gaza is oppression, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 12, 2023

“Like many Jews of my generation, my thinking on these issues has changed dramatically in the last 16 years. I have found more direction since joining the Philadelphia chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Through direct action, events, and conversations, I’ve gotten clear on my belief that we all deserve liberation, safety, and equality.”

-Rebecca J. Alvarez

In St. Paul, Jewish groups rally for Palestinians and call for a ceasefire, Pioneer Press, October 21, 2023

“’I am a descendant of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust,’ said Iris Brilliant, 35, of Minneapolis, as the crowd around her broke into a peace song. ‘Genocide of Palestinians does not make me feel more safe.‘

The protesters — organized by the Jewish advocacy coalition If Not Now and the progressive anti-Zionist organization Jewish Voice for Peace — called upon state DFL Chair Ken Martin to condemn the bombings that have killed some 4,000 Palestinians, more than 1,000 of them children, and work to curb U.S. military aid to the Israeli government.“

Americans Rally, Rage and Grieve after Attack on Israel, Moment Magazine, October 12, 2023

“Occupying that kind of nuanced space as news of events in Israel were reaching Americans on Saturday were groups like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), IfNotNow, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JREJ). Their members are progressive Jews committed to Palestinian freedom and to ending U.S. support for Israel, which they feel contributes to the oppression of Palestinians living under occupation.

Jay Saper (they/them) is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace in New York (JVP has over 440,000 members nationwide) and at an unaffiliated congregation in Park Slope that normally celebrates the Simchat Torah holiday, which fell on Saturday this year, with 19 other Brooklyn congregations…On Saturday it was announced the event would shift to include a “stand with Israel” rally. Saper and other members of their congregation felt they could not participate with a clear conscience and instead joined IfNotNow and JREJ for an alternative Simchat Torah nearby the rally at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza. Afterward, JVP led 50 participants on a march to New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s residence. 

‘We prepared those who showed up to march solemnly and not engage those who would want to escalate a confrontation,’ Saper says. ‘That isn’t what we were there for. We were there to grieve, to honor the lives that were lost and take our message to the person with the power to actually take action to stop $3.8 billion in U.S military funding for Israel.'”

Hundreds attend rally for Gaza in Northeast Portland calling out Oregon lawmakers, KGW 8, October 19, 2023

“What we’re seeing is the genocide of the people of Gaza, and we’re saying this must stop.”

-Heather Dorfman, JVP-Portland

LETTER: Israel’s oppression is the root of violence, Business Day, October 11, 2023

“The Jewish Voice for Peace in the US has issued a statement headlined “The Root of Violence is Oppression”, declaring: ‘The bloodshed of today and the past 75 years tracks back directly to US complicity in the oppression and horror caused by Israel’s military occupation. The unchecked military funding, diplomatic cover and billions of dollars of private money flowing from the US enables and empowers Israel’s apartheid regime.'”

-Terry Crawford-Browne

Palestinian supporters, pro-Israel counter-protestors rally in Manhattan, AFP, October 8, 2023

“On Saturday evening the New York branches of organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now marched to the Brooklyn home of Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s majority leader, to call ‘for an end to all US military funding to Israel.'”

Progressives face backlash over response to Israel attacks, The Hill, October 12, 2023

“‘Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Bush both issued statements that mourned the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives, and then said we need to address the root causes of violence to get to peace, and they are now being attacked,’ said Beth Miller, the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, a progressive Jewish group.”

Demonstrators gather in Cedar Rapids to stand in solidarity with Palestine, The Gazette, October 23, 2023

“Ariel Levin, of Iowa City, is a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace, which labels itself as a grassroots, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews who stand in ‘solidarity with Palestinian freedom struggle.’

‘As American Jews we refuse let our grief and our fear be a weapon used to justify the murder of more Palestinians, and to justify the action of … an apartheid system that threatens the lives and well-being of Palestinians for the past 75 years,’ Levin said. ‘ … As American Jews we demand a cease fire now. We say ‘No’ to killing in our names. We demand a stop to genocide in Gaza.’”

Minnesota Jewish communities march against attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, Fox 9 KMSP, October 16, 2023

“Hundreds in the Minnesota Jewish community signed an open letter calling for the Israel attacks in Gaza to cease. Monday, Minnesota Jewish people are marching that letter to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office, calling on her to listen to her constituents as they call for no more war and violence against the Palestinian people. 

The march is sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, both groups are American Jewish organizations that call for the end of U.S. support of Israel’s occupation in the Gaza Strip and to end violence against Palestinians, according to their websites.” 

Hamas Attack a Response to Netanyahu’s and Biden’s Choices, City Watch, October 9, 2023

“Israel and its supporters would have us believe it was because Hamas are just vicious killers who have a particular bloodlust for Jews. In reality, it was the actualization of what anti-apartheid activists among Palestinians, Israelis, and many of us all around the world have been warning about for many years.

Israel and the United States labored for decades to render negotiations futile. They also closed off the international legal and political system, threatening sanctions against any international body that admitted Palestine. They insisted that the Palestinians could only pursue their freedom through bilateral negotiations in which they had absolutely no leverage and which were brokered by the world’s sole superpower, which has an “unbreakable bond” with Israel, which, itself, is a regional hegemon sitting at the table with representatives of a dispossessed, stateless, divided people. 

That created a pressure cooker, one which was always on the verge of blowing.”

-Mitchell Plitnick, JVP Board Member

Post readers sound off on the Hamas attack and the war in Israel | Letters, The Palm Beach Post, October 12, 2023

“As an American Jew living in South Florida, I am devastated to hear the Israeli government promising to commit war crimes against Palestinians in response to recent violent actions by Hamas. But this is not just a question of Israeli government policy. Our own government sends billions of dollars to Israel every year to support an apartheid regime that violates human rights ― as well as Jewish ethics. For 75 years, Palestinians have faced brutal oppression, and every US taxpayer is complicit in this violence and oppression. The root of today’s violence is this history of oppression, which is funded by the U.S. and supported without question by South Florida politicians. As a Jew and as a human being committed to human rights, I must speak out against this complicity and I hope that others will join me in demanding that the U.S. end military support for Israel.”

-Nicole Morse, West Palm Beach

Pro-Palestinian rallygoers: Put Israel-Hamas war in historical context, Daily Hampshire Gazette, October 11, 2023

“’It’s really frustrating for me as an American Jew when people will ask where the moderate political party in Palestine is,’ said Rachel Weber, an attorney in Hampshire County who has previously organized rallies with national organization Jewish Voice for Peace. ‘The devastation permeates every aspect of life in Gaza. So that’s not a great climate for fostering political moderation.’

Weber, who did not attend Monday’s rally, acknowledged that it was a scary time for many Israelis and their families, and that she was against violence, but said that peace would be unattainable without acknowledging the historical situation.

‘(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu isn’t calling for calm,’ Weber said. ‘I don’t want anyone to die. I don’t want Israelis on the ground to die, I don’t want Palestinians to die, I don’t want bombs falling on anyone. We’re not going to have meaningful conversations about how we got here, which I think are required to map a way forward, without looking at where we came from.'”

Despite the rain, hundreds gathered for Pro-Palestine rally, WJAR, October 21, 2023

“‘There’s no military solution that can do anything but continue a cycle of violence,’ Joel Reinstein with the Rhode Island chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace said. ‘It’s absolutely imperative that everyone in the United States raise their voices to demand a ceasefire.'”

Letter: Rep. Cori Bush deserves credit for leading call for a ceasefire, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 22, 2023

“As those yearning for peace across St. Louis know, Rep. Bush is very much in step with her constituents: our demands, our protests, and the ways we would like our tax dollars spent. Like our congresswoman, we call for recognition that nearly 3,000 lives have been lost due to the Israeli military, disproportionately among children. We also know true safety for everyone doesn’t come from the mass bombing and killing of civilians, nor from mass displacement, the denial of water and electricity, and the wiping out of neighborhoods.

We also stand against the widespread dehumanization of Palestinians in the media, and the valuing of some lives as more worthy of mourning than others. As widespread national protests show, everywhere people are standing in solidarity with the 2 million Gazans who are trapped under siege by Israel, and the one million displaced Palestinians with nowhere to go. Here in St. Louis it is no different.”

-Michael Berg and Rachel Brown, JVP-St. Louis

Seattle-area residents worry, rally as fighting escalates in Israel, Gaza, The Columbian, October 10, 2023

“But not all Jews feel the same, noted Dr. Alice Rothchild, a member of the national, progressive group Jewish Voice for Peace and a retired OB-GYN living in Seattle. While many mainstream Jewish organizations stand with Israel, some Jews, particularly younger ones, are more critical of its government.

Rothschild has visited Palestinian territories many times, and written books and directed a film on what she has seen there.

Rothschild said Hamas’ killing and kidnapping of civilians is “unconscionable.”

At the same time, she said: ‘It is very clear to me that you cannot arrest children and demolish homes and bomb the areas to the Dark Ages every couple of years and think that no one’s going to resist.’ If Israelis want to live in safety and security, she added, then Palestinians must do so, too.”

Bay Area groups plan solidarity, prayer events for Israel as reactions pour in, Jewish News of Northern California, October 7, 2023

“Berkeley-based Jewish Voice for Peace, the anti-Zionist organization that supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, noted that “Palestinians, Israelis and all of us with family on the ground are terrified for loved ones. We grieve the lives of those already lost and remain committed to a future where every life is precious, and all people live in freedom and safety.” However, JVP’s statement also condemned Israel. ‘The Israeli government may have just declared war, but its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago. Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression — are the source of all this violence. Reality is shaped by when you start the clock.’”

‘It’s personal for everybody’: Pittsburgh community reacts to Israel-Gaza violence, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, October 11, 2023

“Allie Levin of Jewish Voice for Peace knows those feelings all too well, keeping in touch with people on both sides, describing it as a ‘collective grief.’ Levin has checked in Jewish friends and family in Israel while also the hearing the desperation of Palestinian friends in Gaza and the West Bank.

‘It’s just astounding,’ Levin said. ‘I know people who are sort of locked down, but how hunkered down can you be if you’re in Gaza?’”

DFW faith leaders call for empathy, peace in Middle East, NBC 5 DFW, October 20, 2023

“The Jewish Voice for Peace’s rabbinical council addressed both Jewish and Palestinian communities ‘who are heartbroken, grieving and fearful,’ saying, ‘we grieve whole-heartedly, broken-heartedly…’ with all lives lost.“

Violence in the Mideast will not end without justice, People’s World, October 11, 2023

“There is also no shame in pointing out how and why things have come to this. Yes, there are those who angrily criticize contextualizing as unseemly at times such as these. They tell us this is a time for mourning, not political analysis. On the contrary – I believe contextualizing these tragic events is absolutely essential if we are to have any hope beyond the grief.

As the recent Jewish Voice for Peace statement so aptly put it, ‘The root of violence is oppression.’ Unless we have the wherewithal to say this out loud, this latest tragedy will be precisely that: just the latest tragedy in a litany of grief that has gone on for far too long.

To be sure, this latest violence did not occur in a vacuum. It is but the latest manifestation of an injustice that Israel has been perpetrating against the Palestinian people for decades.”

-Rabbi Brant Rosen

Supporters of Palestine rally in Albany days after Gaza surprise attack, Times Union, October 11, 2023

“Mark Mishler, of Jewish Voices for Peace, addressed the group, saying: ‘We condemn the murder and kidnapping of civilians in Israel by Hamas and the collective punishment of 2 million people in Gaza.’ Mishler, a Capital Region attorney known for defending Black Lives Matter activists in Saratoga Springs, called on the United States to cease all military aid to Israel. ‘Outrage from Palestinians is just,’ he said.”

Anti-Zionist Jews Hold Solidarity Shiva for Palestinian and Israeli Lives Lost, Unicorn Riot, October 11, 2023

“Jews in solidarity with Palestinians will hold a shiva (Jewish mourning ritual) to grieve for Palestinian lives lost, Israeli lives lost, to pray for justice and peace, and an end to war and occupation.

We decry the impression that Jews are monolithically supportive of Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands and human rights abuses. We support human rights for all, including those of the Palestinians who have suffered under brutal occupation and apartheid for over 70 years. We absolutely reject the notion that apartheid and oppression of Palestinians promotes Jewish safety; rather, we recognize it as a zero-sum strategy rooted in trauma and the same European colonial system that produced the Holocaust. We know that we will not see an end to these cycles of violence without an end to the occupation.

In the past few days Palestinians executed a military attack on the Israeli state and Israel is executing retributive attacks against Palestinians. Israeli leaders have used genocidal rhetoric, with Prime Minister Netanyahu threatening a limitless war and telling Gazans to leave, an impossibility for the territory under siege. Senior members of his government are calling for a second Nakba, a reference to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948. Against this backdrop, the Biden administration has since publicly committed to providing military assistance to Israel. It is in this context that we gather to say, not in our name. 

We oppose the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. We mourn for all lives lost in Palestine over the last 75 years. We believe in a just world. We believe in Tikkun Olam – repairing the world. We believe that “Never Again” means “Never Again for Anybody.” We believe that the path to justice starts with justice, not retribution. As Jews, we know that inevitably, oppressed people everywhere will seek — and gain — their freedom. We all deserve liberation, safety and equality. The only way to get there is by uprooting the sources of the violence. We believe in, and are committed to working for, a world where all life is precious.” 

Paterson Rally Brings Attention to ‘Palestinian Resistance’ Amid Escalating Tensions, TapintoPaterson, October 10, 2023

“Alice Golem, a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace – Northern NJ said. ‘While we empathize with the Palestinian desire to resist oppression, we believe that killing civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli, is wrong. However, we also believe that Israel’s policies are inhumane, cold, cruel, and indifferent to the pain they cause. Its ongoing oppression and apartheid are deeply unjust. A cousin of mine wrote on Facebook this morning that she is trying to breathe with Israel, but I am trying to breathe with Palestine. I urge my fellow Americans, and especially my fellow Jews, to recognize that this cycle of violence will persist until Israel’s occupation and dispossession of Palestinians come to an end, and these injustices will continue as long as our government supports them.'”

Metro Detroit Arab, Jewish communities mourn, rally amid violence in Middle East, Detroit Free Press, October 11, 2023

“A speaker with the group Jewish Voice for Peace, David Finkel, also addressed the crowd, saying he supports Palestinians. The crowd applauded in approval. Detroit activist Sam Riddle also addressed the crowd, saying he supports Palestinians.

Other rallies and news conferences in support of Palestinians are planned in Dearborn and Detroit this week, including a Saturday rally at Ford Woods Park in Dearborn.“

Dearborn rally calls for end to Palestinian occupation as war rages, The Detroit News, October 11, 2023

“David Finkel, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace in Detroit, was at the event to show support.

‘We stand with the Palestinian community in the struggle for justice,’ Finkel said.”

The Brian Lehrer Show, NPR, October 11, 2023

“‘I’m a member of JVP. Thank you for all you are doing right now and always! I called in and my call was taken. Attending your call to action meeting yesterday evening helped me articulate clearly and fairly concisely my thoughts in response to what Hakeem Jeffries said about his unequivocal support for Israel, with almost no nuance. Thank you!'”

-Deborah Kaplan, Brooklyn, NY

As a deadly conflict continues in Israel, NC’s Jewish community plans to rally together, The News & Observer, October 10, 2023

“A large crowd gathered in Moore Square in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon after 3 p.m. for an ’emergency free Palestine’ rally, social media posts showed. The rally was organized by groups that include Jewish Voice for Peace, a national organization that advocates for Palestinian rights and is against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Rania Masri, an organizer of the rally who is from Lebanon, said the rally was a response to ‘apartheid.’ ‘In no way can we say what is happening now is unprovoked,’ Free Palestine Rally organizer Rania Masri told ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner. ‘What we are witnessing is liberation. It’s a direct response to occupation and apartheid. What we’ve had happen for 75 years is Palestinians have been dispossessed, their homes have been broken and destroyed, their lands have been stolen.'”

Community leaders in Sacramento area respond amid Israel-Hamas war, KCRA 3, October 9, 2023

“Dahbour spoke on Monday alongside David Mandel, who is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

‘When you have people who have tried everything else, certain numbers of them are going to try to lash out and do things like that. That’s why you have had suicide bombers, and, of course, you can’t ignore the fact that the vast majority of civilian deaths over the years have been Palestinian, not Israeli. Not that anyone justifies the other or anything like that, but these are people who are desperate,’ Mandel said.”

Community leaders in Sacramento area respond amid Israel-Hamas war, KCRA 3, October 9, 2023

“Dahbour spoke on Monday alongside David Mandel, who is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

‘When you have people who have tried everything else, certain numbers of them are going to try to lash out and do things like that. That’s why you have had suicide bombers, and, of course, you can’t ignore the fact that the vast majority of civilian deaths over the years have been Palestinian, not Israeli. Not that anyone justifies the other or anything like that, but these are people who are desperate,’ Mandel said.”