From the US to Gaza – In solidarity with Palestinian liberation

Gaza2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Sonya E Meyerson-Knox | sonya@jvp.org | 929-290-0317

Statement by Jewish Voice for Peace

Just over one year since its last horrific attack on Gaza, the Israeli government launched yet another round of catastrophic bombings, flattening homes and killing Palestinian families. This is the fifth attack by Israel of this magnitude since it placed Gaza under a crippling blockade of land, air and sea 15 years ago.

Stefanie Fox, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace: “The rampant brutality against Palestinians by the Israeli military – with the funding, support and defense of the U.S. government – is horrifying in its cruelty and inhumanity. Palestinians live under Israeli oppression every single day of the year. And when Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, no one can escape, no one can flee to safety.”

Our grief and rage at this latest round of violence inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza is intensified watching the specter of thousands of Israeli settlers and extremists roaming occupied Jerusalem in mobs, attacking Palestinians and invading the Al Aqsa mosque compound, in a twisted marking of the Jewish holiday Tisha B’av.  

Beth Miller, Political Director, Jewish Voice for Peace: “What we are witnessing is not a ‘conflict,’ a ‘clash,’ or a ‘war’ between two equal parties. There is no mistaking the massive disparity of power between the Israeli government and the Palestinians it targets. Backed by $3.8 billion in annual military funding from the U.S. government, the Israeli government controls, dominates and dispossesses Palestinian lives and lands.” 

In the 14 months since the last large-scale Israeli attack on Gaza, violence against Palestinians by the Israeli military and settlers, enabled by the state, has drastically increased. Israeli settlement growth on Palestinian land is not only expanding, but is now sanctioned by the Israeli Supreme Court. The Israeli military is relentlessly targeting the Palestinian communities of Masafer Yatta for forced displacement. Violent attacks by Israeli settlers are escalating. Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes have surged. And so far this year, the Israeli military has killed almost as many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as in all of 2021. And now the Israeli government has launched yet another devastating attack on Palestinian families in Gaza.

Jewish communities must make a choice. Do we accede to a future rooted in denial and continue to allow apartheid, ethnic cleansing and massacre in our names? Or do we engage with hard truths and bring our whole selves to the struggle of teshuva, of repair for these harms? 

We choose the struggle for justice over silence and complicity. We choose to join with Palestinians and the growing global movement in support of the right of return for Palestinians, as part of a shared future of justice, equality and freedom for all people. To achieve a future where all are safe and free, we must end the Israeli government’s settler-colonial apartheid regime. 

Right now, we can help end Israel’s brutal bombing of Gaza. Last year, we joined with thousands and thousands pouring into the streets and protesting across the country. We helped flood Congress with demands to take action, and we held powerful ritual protests outside the homes and workplaces of those obstructing justice. And through that groundswell of support, our combined voices forced the U.S. government to play a role in reigning back Israel’s attacks on Gaza. 

We can – and must – do no less this time, and every time, until Palestinian liberation.  

 

JVP staff are available to speak with the media

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Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 500,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters and 15 student chapters, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.

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