Gaza Under Attack Toolkit

Ways to take action

Our approach to messaging

Talking points

Twitter list of Palestinian accounts to follow and boost

Making signs for protests:

Photo tips for effective visuals to share on social

 

Ways to take action

Speak out. Your voice matters!

Amplify Palestinian voices on social media. See here for Palestinian accounts to boost

If you’re in the US, call your reps. The US is funding and supporting Israel to carry out these atrocities. Each of us must pick up the most and call our member of congress. Using this tool and script, call on them to DEMAND that Israel stop its attacks and end the brutal military siege of Gaza.

Join a virtual space to take action together: From Monday, August 8 through Thursday, August 11, at 1-1:30pm PT / 4-4:30pm ET daily, join us to learn the latest developments, flood the phone lines of our elected officials and make demands of other key complicit institutions. Register here.

Hit the streets and join a Palestinian-led protest near you. Make a sign and invite five people to come with you – even and especially if they’ve never joined before. Click here for the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights’s running list of actions.

Email the New York Times international editor and demand they report accurately when the Israeli military attacks Palestinians. Use this tool.

Have a hard conversation with someone you know in a position of influence. Remember: Lead with values you both share. Rather than debate, tell a personal story. Ask questions and be ready to listen. Make a concrete ask. Remember: People are generally more likely to move because someone they know engaged them than because of news or facts. You got this.

 

Our approach to messaging: 

Let Palestinians speak for themselves: It’s shocking how little attention is being paid to Palestinians right now, especially voices coming from Gaza. One vital thing we can all do is amplify and center those voices and experiences.

  • Here’s a Twitter list you can use to find accounts of Palestinians and Palestinian organizations outside of the US – we’ll be updating it constantly.

Be truth telling: Name the root causes of what’s happening on the ground. This is apartheid, ethnic cleansing and settler-colonialism, the ongoing Nakba.

Be welcoming: This is a moment when many Jewish people are ready to join in solidarity with Palestinians, and we welcome them.

Lead with our values: Our outrage stems from our deep conviction that all people deserve safety, dignity, justice and freedom.

 

Talking points

Stop Israel’s bombing of Palestinian families in Gaza

Stop the Israeli military’s airstrikes on families in Gaza. This is the fifth large-scale attack by the Israeli military in 15 years, and in that time, Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. When Israel drops bombs on Gaza, no one can escape, no one can flee to safety.

We are calling for an end to all Israeli violence against Palestinians. 

Palestinians in Gaza deal with Israel’s violence every day of the year. The story starts with Israel’s ongoing oppression. That’s the root cause.

A growing number of Americans, including American Jews, are demanding our government hold the Israeli government accountable for its daily violence and oppression against Palestinians.

Lift the Israeli military blockade on Gaza and let Palestinians live

Israel has held Gaza under military siege for 15 years: Nearly 2 million Palestinians, including 1.3 million refugees, live in Gaza.

Even when Israel isn’t bombing, life in Gaza is untenable. Israel’s blockade has turned Gaza into what the UN and Noam Chomsky call the world’s largest open-air prison.

The vast majority of residents are unable to leave, including to the occupied West Bank. Israel’s siege means people in Gaza don’t have enough electricity or water – and the healthcare system is decimated.

We call for an immediate end to Israel’s 15 year year brutal siege of Gaza. 

Stop Israel’s violence against Palestinians

The Israeli military and government use their immense power to violently oppress Palestinians, controlling nearly every aspect of Palestinian life, no matter where Palestinians live.

In the past year, Israeli state violence against Palestinians has drastically increased.

  • Israeli settlement growth on Palestinian land not only expanded, but is now sanctioned by the Israeli Supereme Court.
  • The Israeli military is relentlessly attacking Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta to forcibly expel over a thousand people from their homes and land.
  • Violent attacks by Israeli settlers are increasing in regularity and Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes have surged.
  • So far this year the Israeli military has killed almost as many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as in all of 2021.

No more U.S. funding for the Israeli military

U.S. taxpayer dollars help pay for the attacks by the Israeli military – and it is well past time to end U.S. funding for systemic and grave violations of Palestinian human rights.​

Congress should act NOW to end the $3.8 billion we send to the Israeli military every year. 

Congress cannot continue sending billions of dollars to the Israeli military without even the most basic human rights conditions.

The U.S. cannot continue to enable Israel’s destruction of Palestinian lives and livelihoods. These actions harm a just future for all people in Palestine and Israel.

The Palestinian Children and Families Act (HR 2590) is the first legislation of its kind to ensure US tax dollars are not used by the Israeli government to imprison and torture Palestinian children, steal and destroy Palestinian homes and property, or further annex Palestinian land.

Mainstream media is STILL biased against Palestinians

Reporting about Israel’s attack on Gaza still misrepresents the facts. But it should be very clear: Israel is the violent oppressor, while Palestinians continue to demand their freedom.

The attacks by the Israeli military, one of the best-funded and equipped in the world, kill Palestinian families and cause mass destruction in Gaza. Even when Israel isn’t bombing, Palestinians face Israeli violence every day of the year. The story starts with Israel’s ongoing oppression.

Without consequences, the Israeli government will continue to steal Palestinian land, bomb Palestinian cities, and harm Palestinian children and their families – like it’s doing right now.

Demand the media report on the root cause: Israel must be held accountable for its daily violence and oppression against Palestinians.

We invite Jews everywhere to join us in supporting Palestinian liberation and reclaiming a Judaism beyond Zionism

There is no question that a rapidly growing number of U.S. Jews actively oppose Israeli policies and Zionism, because Israel’s actions are not part of our Judaism.

As an anti-Zionist Jewish organization, we understand that Zionism was a false and failed answer to the desperately real question many of our ancestors faced of how to protect Jewish lives from murderous antisemitism in Europe. Zionism is and was an Ashkenazi-led movement that othered, marginalized and discriminated against Jews outside Europe, including Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. We recognize that Zionism has always required the oppression and expulsion of Palestinians from their land, and we draw a straight line between the violent displacement of Palestinians in 1948 and today.

We are proud Jews from all backgrounds, building a Jewish community that stands in solidarity with Palestinians and opposes Israeli violence in all its forms. Join us.

Twitter list of Palestinian accounts to follow and boost

This is a list of Palestinians and Palestinian organizations based outside the US. It’s a work in progress, we’ll be updating here as best we can. Please try to follow and share these accounts when you’re posting about Palestine!

 

@7amleh

@Addameer

@alhaq_org

@AlMezanCenter

@AlShabaka

@Barahmeh

@basel_adra

@BDSmovement

@DCIPalestine

@FadiAbuShammala

@faresakram

@Issam_Adwan

@JalalAK_jojo

@m7mdkurd

@MahaGaza

@MaramGaza

@MariamBarghouti

@MohammRafik

@Omar_Gaza

@rabetbypipd

@RamAbdu

@RZabaneh

@shawajason

@TareqBaconi

@Timesofgaza

@WeAreNotNumbers

@yarahawari

 

Making signs for protests:

Clear message

Here are some suggestions:

  • End US Funding of Israeli Apartheid
  • Jew for Palestinian Freedom
  • This Jew says: Stop the bombing of Gaza, end the siege
  • Anti-Zionist Jew for Palestinian liberation
  • “Solidarity is the political version of love” – Melanie Kaye Kantrowitz
  • Another Jew against Zionism, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid
  • Jew for Palestinian right of return
  • Jews say: Free Gaza, Free Palestine
  • Another Jew Against Apartheid
  • This Jew says: Wherever there is oppression, may there thrive resistance
  • Jews Say: BDS until Palestinians are free!

Sturdy material

The ideal material is sturdy (doesn’t roll or fold over easily), not so big that it’s a struggle to hold or carry, and not so small it can’t be read in a photo.  Cardboard, card stock, poster board all work well. Most houses will have something perfect lying around in the form of boxes, packaging etc. 

Bold lettering

Use pencil to outline your message before you use ink! Thick letters work best for readability on camera or in a crowd. Try to keep text slightly away from the edges of the sign so your fingers don’t cover any of the message. Use thick sharpies or heavy marker for maximum impact. Black is a great default, but red and other bright/high contrast colors work well too. If you don’t have markers at home, get creative with what you do have on hand.  

Legibility

Prop your sign up on a wall or shelf and step back at least 6 feet to view it from a distance. Is it legible? Is it clear? How about at 12’? Ask people around you to read it from a distance too. Fresh eyes are always helpful. At a protest, you want your sign to be visible from the longest distance possible. If you can read it from a distance, you can be sure other people (and cameras) will be able to as well. 

Impact

Write on both sides! Especially if there’s a lot you want to say.

Energy

You can choose to keep your sign basic, like the example we shared above, or you can embellish in whatever way you like. This is a great moment to get deep into your creativity and expression.

 

Photo tips for effective visuals to share on social

Permission from photographed subjects

  • Before you take a photo of someone, let them know that you are a JVP member and ask if they consent to having their image posted on local and national social media.
  • Find out if they want to be tagged on social media

Clear focal point and subject matter.

Prioritize photo subjects in this general order:

  • Photos of JVP members or non-member Jews with powerful signs in front of or amidst protest crowds
  • Photos of JVP members or non-member Jews in action, e.g. speaking into a microphone or bullhorn, participating in a ritual, etc.
  • Photos that capture the energy/vibe of the protest at large
  • Photos of non-Jews with powerful signs in front of or amidst protest crowds

Background with context and visual interest

Don’t just take a photo of someone with a sign in front of a blank wall! Let the viewer know where you are; include a crowd, a landmark, etc.

Vertical orientation

This is important for social media, where vertical images take up more of the screen than horizontal or square ones do. Even if your subject matter seems to call for horizontal orientation, try to frame it vertically!

Highest resolution possible

Have someone with the latest possible smartphone or a professional-level camera take photos. Pixelated, low-resolution imagery makes signs hard to read and makes the images overall less powerful.

No extreme zoom

Too much zoom reduces image quality and makes the image pixelated. Get closer to your subject if you’re far away.

Send us your pictures

  • Email photos to social@jvp.org
  • Make sure to include the date and location and please identify anyone who wanted to be tagged, or who is a JVP member.

 

Get

the Wire

Stay up to date on the most important news from Palestine and the Palestine solidarity movement, and receive action alerts and invitations to online events.