Media Roundup: We’re organizing for the long haul to end U.S. complicity.
Nearly five months into the Gaza genocide, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military. Over one million Palestinians in Rafah face an impending ground invasion with nowhere left to flee. Palestinians across Gaza aren’t starving; they’re being starved. In North Gaza, UNRWA hasn’t been able to deliver aid in over a month. Months-old babies are dying of acute malnutrition.
In this moment of utter despair, we are giving everything we have to fight for an immediate and permanent ceasefire — and an end to all U.S. complicity in the Israeli government’s crimes against Palestinians. That includes expanding our tactics and targets, building even more pressure on the individuals, institutions, and special interest groups fueling this genocide.
In New York City, JVP organizers shut down the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, who have taken over $400,000 combined from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in the last two years. AIPAC has spent enormous amounts of money to buy our elected officials’ silence on Palestine — including pressuring them to oppose a ceasefire, something the majority of voters want.
On Monday, members of JVP-NYC showed up at Rockefeller Center, where President Biden was taping a segment for Late Night with Seth Meyers, to demand that he stop sending weapons to Israel’s genocidal military. A day later, over 100,000 people marked “uncommitted” instead of voting for Biden in the Michigan primary, sending a direct message to the President that he won’t be able to rely on their votes come November if he continues arming a genocide.
The movement for Palestinian liberation is making it clear to the sponsors of the Israeli government’s genocide that they cannot escape public outrage. We’re reminding our elected officials that they are accountable to the people, not to special interest groups, and we’re hitting President Biden where it hurts, making sure he knows his unquestioning support for the Israeli government could cost him the election. The facade is crumbling, and we’re not slowing down now.
N.Y.C. Protest Calling for Gaza Cease-Fire Targets Pro-Israel Senators, The New York Times, February 22, 2024
“I was raised to feel deep, deep, deep in my core that when genocide was happening, it was my job to stand up and fight. For many of us, it is the logical expression of Jewish values to stand in solidarity with Palestine and to stand up to our elected officials who are allowing genocide.”
– Louisa Solomon, JVP-NYC
Anti-Zionist Jewish Americans arrested during protest against Joe Biden, Middle East Eye, February 26, 2024
“He’s not listening to his constituents, he’s listening to Netanyahu, he’s listening to AIPAC.”
– Jane Hirschmann, JVP-NYC
Jewish-Led NYC Rally Targets AIPAC, Dem Allies Who Oppose Gaza Cease-Fire, Common Dreams, February 22, 2024
“If you want to know one reason why more electeds aren’t calling for a cease-fire—even though a cease-fire is the overwhelming demand from the people—look no further than AIPAC.”
– Jewish Voice for Peace
Protesters clear Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh after lying in the road, arrests made, WRAL News, February 22, 2024
Close to 100 members of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP Triangle) staged a “die-in” protest Thursday in downtown Raleigh.
Biden’s late-night talk show appearance draws pro-Palestinian protest, Politico, February 26, 2024
“The group Jewish Voice for Peace NYC posted pictures of the protesters on social media. Some wore shirts saying, ‘cease fire now,’ while holding a banner with the words ‘Jews to Biden: Stop Arming Genocide.‘”
– JVP-NYC
Athens City Council passes resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza, The New Political, February 22, 2024
“We were taught ‘Never Again’ means never again for anyone. What’s going on is intentional, not collateral damage, intentional destruction of universities, schools, hospitals, and relief centers. Israel has also targeted churches, mosques, museums, libraries, and archeological sites. This is cultural genocide.”
– Barbara Lyons, JVP-Ohio
50 Arrested in Jewish-Led Protest of Gaza Genocide at Biden TV Taping, Common Dreams, February 26, 2024
“Our Jewish tradition teaches us that life is precious. As Jewish New Yorkers, we are absolutely outraged that President Biden is actively supporting a genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza“
– Jay Saper, JVP-NYC
Update: Picketers stage ‘die-in,’ speaking program outside Reed’s office, WLNE, February 22, 2024
“How can Senator Reed, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, not understand the hypocrisy in using Rhode Islanders’ tax dollars to send more weapons than food and medicine? We call on Senator Reed to call publicly for an end to military support for Israel and an immediate ceasefire.”
– JVP-Rhode Island
Allegheny County Council hears from public regarding proposed cease-fire resolution, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, February 21, 2024
“I reject entirely the excuses that Israel uses to justify their indiscriminate bombing and slaughter of children and other innocents, saying that Hamas is using them as human shields and that they have to continue with this in order to free the hostages”
– Aaron Kuhn, JVP-Pittsburgh
Downtown Milwaukee protestors call for ceasefire in Gaza, plan to ‘abandon’ Biden for supporting Israel in the conflict, WTMJ, February 22, 2024
“As U.S. citizens, we are complicit in this genocide and people need to understand that. This is not something far away that we have nothing to do with.”
– Tesla Barr, JVP-Madison
Protesters Briefly Block Highway 101 in SF, Call for End to War in Gaza, KQED, February 19, 2024
“We say ‘not in our name’ means never again for anyone, and right now it means never again for Palestinians“
– Ellen Brotsky, JVP-Bay Area
Local Papers Across the US Are Refusing to Cover the Movement for Ceasefire, Truthout, February 18, 2024
“The media bias definitely has an impact on the movement and people’s perception of the truth. Not only does this type of reporting thwart the ceasefire effort, its main intention, but it also helps to propagate anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic sentiment. Mainstream media is making activists in the ceasefire movement have to work harder for peace.”
– Meera Jaffrey, JVP-New Jersey
Jewish Identity with and Without Zionism, The New Yorker, February 15, 2024
Johanna Rosen: We must push for a cease-fire and more, Greenfield Recorder, February 21, 2024
“As a Jewish American, I know it is not antisemitic to criticize the Israeli state and its military actions. There is a dire need to raise our voices to stop the death, destruction, and displacement.”
– Johanna Rosen JVP-Massachusetts
Changes to Indiana antisemitism bill drain support from many in Hoosier Jewish community, Indiana Capital Chronicle, February 22, 2024
“The previous bill, we thought, was harmful to our Arab brothers and sisters, and we committed as Jews to ensuring that ‘never again’ is for everybody. And that includes Palestinians. As Jews, that is part of our faith and is part of what we learned from the horrible experience of the Holocaust.”
– Dan Segal, JVP-Indiana
S.F.’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts galleries’ reopening uncertain after pro-Gaza demonstration, San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 2024
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