Permanent ceasefire now. A pause is not enough.
The Israeli military has killed over 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza in just over 50 days. Over 6,000 of them were children — that’s as many as the total number of children killed in armed conflicts around the world during 2021 and 2022 combined.
On Monday, a four-day “ceasefire” was extended for two days. The pause and its extension were no doubt the result of the extraordinary pressure being exerted by the movement for Palestinian liberation.
But the temporary ceasefire will end tonight. There can be no business as usual as long as the genocide being carried out against Palestinians in Gaza remains merely “on pause.”
That’s why on Sunday, 1,500 people led by JVP-NYC shut down New York City’s Manhattan Bridge on the busiest travel day of the year.
Jews, Palestinians, community members, faith leaders, and elected officials blocked the entrance to the bridge for several hours, through the rain and into the night. They chanted, sang, and dropped banners from the archway and the center of the bridge reading “Let Gaza Live,” and unfurled others that read “Lasting ceasefire” and “The whole world is watching.”
Around the world — from New York City to London, Chicago to Ottawa — people of conscience are taking to the streets to demand a lasting ceasefire.
On Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, thousands of people protested at malls and shopping centers in cities across the U.S. That same day, Barcelona’s City Council voted to suspend relations with the state of Israel. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in London and Ottawa, and on Monday, a coalition of Palestinian, Jewish, and racial justice organizations launched a five-day hunger strike in front of the White House.
Right now, the Palestinians in Gaza who survived the last 50 days of Israel’s genocidal onslaught are searching for the bodies of their family members under the rubble. At least two people were killed by the Israeli military while trying to return to northern Gaza. Over 1.7 million people have been displaced.
In spite of unimaginable loss, Palestinian life endures. We’ll never forget the images of women playing with their children among the ruins of their destroyed homes; of young and old flocking to the beach on the first day of the temporary truce; and of Palestinian hostages — unjustly held for years in Israeli jails — finally reuniting with their loved ones.
We cannot afford to surrender to hopelessness. Our organizing is paying off — and now more than ever, we have to keep pushing for an end to U.S. support for the genocide of Palestinians.
Power Half-Hours for Gaza.
The tide is turning — nearly 50 members of Congress now support a ceasefire — but it’s not turning fast enough. That’s why we have to keep pushing.
Every day at 3pm ET/12pm PT, JVP hosts Power Half-Hours for Gaza. Sign up now to take collective action toward a ceasefire alongside hundreds of other people like you. The same link will work every day, Monday through Friday.
Watch JVP: Media Highlights.
JVP isn’t just organizing our people to demand a ceasefire: We’re challenging our opposition’s narrative — one that conflates Jewishness with support for the state of Israel.
JVP Executive Director Stefanie Fox joins Marc Lamont Hill on Al Jazeera’s ‘UpFront.’
‘Moving at the speed of trust.’
This piece from New York Magazine is a deep dive into JVP’s work to meet this moment, and the organization and relationships that have helped us to do so.
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