Media Roundup: “We are in this until Palestine is free.”

As the Israeli government escalates its genocide of Palestinians, forcing more than 1 million already displaced people to flee from a ground invasion of Rafah, JVP members and other people of conscience continue to make headlines as we come together to demand that our communities divest from these horrors.

From protests in Philly calling for an end to funding apartheid through Israel bonds, to the relaunch of the Not on Our Dime legislation that would end NY State funding to violent Israeli settler organizations, we’re continuing to refuse Zionism and fight to build a better world from where we are. As Susan Escovitz, a JVP-Boston member, said in a recent interview: “We are in this until Palestine is free.”

Jewish Voice for Peace stages protests over Israeli bonds in Center City, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 2024.

“There are all kinds of entities from the personal to the national that are invested in Israel, and what we’re calling [for] today as Jews is for all of those entities to divest from Israel, and to divest from genocide. I hope that Jews from all across the political spectrum can see that what we’re doing is returning to our moral compass as Jews.”

Ro Adler, JVP-Philadelphia

OPINION: How I Went From the IDF to Jewish Voice for Peace, Queen City Nerve, May 24, 2024.

“I believe that we were all created equal, and no one should have special privileges, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim. If we hold this truth to be self-evident here, we shouldn’t be supporting a State where Jews are given exclusive rights at the expense of everyone else.”

Andrew Walshver, JVP-Charlotte

Jewish people, rabbis and allies block Center City traffic, call for divestment from Israel, NBC Philadelphia, May 14, 2024.

“I personally divested from Israel bonds, and I’m here today, alongside hundreds of other Jews and allies to call for divestment by our community institutions—including the state of Pennsylvania.”

Sarah Bishop-Stone, JVP-Philadelphia

Encampments over, students continue to protest the war, Boston Globe, May 16, 2024.

“We are with the students. We are in this until Palestine is free.”

Susan Etscovitz, JVP-Boston 

At U. of C. encampment, Jewish organizers explain significance of their anti-Zionist Shabbat service, Chicago Tribune, May 5, 2024.

“Since April 29, Jewish anti-Zionist protesters at the Hyde Park campus have used food, ritual and community in the encampment as one of many ways to express their religious commitment to divestment from Israel, a multiethnic future and an end to killings in Gaza.”

Can the Muslim-Jewish relationship bring about world change?, Muslim Girl Code, May 30, 2024.

“We at JVP will never believe in a version of safety that’s based on the destruction and dispossession of another group of people. That’s not real safety.”

Liv Kunins-Berkowitz, JVP Media Coordinator

Letters: Gaza solidarity encampment allowed me to practice my faith, Chicago Tribune, May 16, 2024.

“However, the encampment I took part in was the most meaningful experience I’ve ever had as a Jew. I feel reinvigorated in my faith, especially after spending Passover, having a Seder and observing Shabbat and Havdalah at the encampment, and so on. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more proud to be Jewish as I have been openly celebrating my faith in this community committed to the idea that ‘never again’ means ‘never again for anyone.'”

Dan Murietta, JVP-Chicago

‘It’s not antisemitic to criticize Israel’, the Guardian, May 15, 2024.

“We organized a Passover Seder and observed Shabbat and Havdalah, and we were part of a multicultural, interfaith space – a glimpse of the world we hope to build. Inside the encampment, students learned, imagined, disagreed and recommitted. We recommitted to the values of justice, equality and dignity for all without exception.”

Benjamin Kersten, JVP-Los Angeles

Anti-Defamation League ramps up lobbying to promote controversial definition of antisemitism, the Guardian, May 15, 2024.

“[The ADL] uses their power and resources in an attempt to maintain unjust policy against the will of the people”.

Stefanie Fox, JVP Executive Director

Some Bay Area Universities Reach Deal to End Encampments, but Students Say Their Fight Continues, KQED, May 18, 2024.

“We’re really sad at the precedent that this sets. That the president that meets and negotiates peacefully with students is the one that gets sacked, not the presidents that are unleashing violence on students and suspending them for the very simple demands that they’re making, which is to try to end a genocide.”

Jordan Byrd, JVP-Sonoma County

Jewish students blend activism, religion during pro-Palestinian encampment, the GW Hatchet, May 20, 2024.

“As Jewish human beings, who were taught that they should not stand idly by their neighbor’s blood and that if a single life is ended, it is akin to ending a whole world, we participate in and are welcomed into this solidarity movement.”

JVP-George Washington University

Ocasio-Cortez Backs N.Y. Bill Limiting Donations to Israeli Settlements, the New York Times, May 20, 2024.

“In grief and rage, members of Jewish Voice for Peace Detroit called for the United States to stop sending weapons and funding to the Israeli military after six months of the Israeli military’s bombardment of Gaza.”

JVP-Detroit

What’s Happening at Encampments at College Campuses Around Baltimore?, Baltimore Jewish Times, May 8, 2024.

“There is nothing antisemitic about the demand for Palestinian freedom and an end to U.S. support to Israel. We should carefully examine the proclivity of U.S. politicians, police and pundits to smear and silence these student activists standing in solidarity with Palestinians around the country, including many thousands [of] Jewish student activists. Such a proclivity speaks to the deep rooted anti-Palestinian racism, as well as antisemitism, baked into the political culture of the United States.”

Matt Schwartz, JVP-Baltimore

Jewish UC Berkeley students describe a year marked by protests, antisemitism concerns, San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, 2024.

“What I can tell you is that there are no universities left in Gaza, to have these discussions on, right?”

For Jewish teens critical of Israel, the generation gap is sometimes with their peers, JTA, May 17, 2024.

“Throughout history, young people are often at the forefront of movements for social justice. Many refuse to accept the world as it is and instead imagine the world as it could be — a place of safety and freedom for all human beings.” 

Liv Kunins-Berkowitz, JVP Media Coordinator

WA Students Say Gaza Encampment Has Been Most Valuable Part of Their Education, Truthout, May 22, 2024.

“My Judaism is rooted in a commitment to ethical culture and a long tradition of resistance and action, not participation in an exclusivist, racist and violent project.”

Sonja, JVP-Western Washington University 

From Global to Local: Raising hands and hope in common protest for peace, Greenfield Recorder, May 29, 2024.

“We have a particular responsibility to speak out against the U.S. government’s material and diplomatic support for Israel and its military aggression. I am motivated to build the world we want to live in where everyone has a safe home, healthy food, clean water, and can celebrate their culture in dignity.”

Jo Rosen, JVP-Western Mass

Photos of Jewish Voice for Peace protest over Israeli bonds in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 15, 2024.

For many American Jews protesting for Palestinians, activism is a journey rooted in their Jewish values, the Conversation, May 21, 2024.