Media Roundup: To be silent is to be complicit.

Over 300 days into the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire is no longer enough. That’s why we’re mobilizing across the country to demand an immediate arms embargo on Israel — and bringing our demands directly to the halls of power.

In the early days of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, JVP led a historic protest inside the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill to demand an immediate ceasefire. In July, nearly nine months later, U.S. Jews and allies held a sit-in inside the same building to demand an arms embargo.

The Israeli military has killed at least 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza. But far more Palestinians are projected to die from disease and starvation — due to conditions that Israel has intentionally created — than have already been killed by Israeli bombs. It’s not enough to call for a ceasefire. The U.S. must stop arming Israel, period. It is the only way to reach a permanent ceasefire and end the genocide.

Across the country, JVP members are mobilizing in unprecedented ways to demand that the U.S. impose an arms embargo on Israel. We’re calling for divestment from Israeli apartheid and genocide, and we’re doing the essential work of moving our communities away from Zionism and into solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

Our movements have faced enormous challenges. But our values tell us that to remain silent is to be complicit. So we’re crying out as loudly as we can to demand an end to the genocide of Palestinians, and giving everything we have to building a future where all people live in freedom and dignity, from the U.S. to Palestine.

About 200 arrested in Cannon Rotunda for protesting Gaza war, The Washington Post, July 25, 2024.

“It’s incredibly important for me to be here as a rabbi and as a Jew because at the heart of Jewish tradition is the sanctity of life. We can’t sit back and watch people being killed and not stand up. That feels, to me, like a serious anti-Jewish thing to do.”

Rabbi Linda Holtzman, JVP Rabbinical Council  

Demonstrators stage mass protest against Netanyahu visit and US military aid to Israel, The Associated Press, July 23, 2024.

“I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors and I know what a Holocaust looks like. When we say ‘Never Again,’ we mean never for anybody.”

Jane Hirschmann, JVP-NYC

Pro-Palestine Protesters Occupy Congress Building and Call for Gaza Ceasefire, The Guardian, July 23, 2024.

“Jewish pro-Palestine demonstrators occupied the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, calling for an end to arms sales and a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on Capitol Hill ahead of Netanyahu visit, NBC News, July 23, 2024

“For nine months, we’ve watched in horror as the Israeli government has carried out a genocide, armed and funded by the US. Congress and the Biden administration have the power to end this horror today”

Stefanie Fox, Executive Director, JVP

Progressive House Democrats plan counter-programming to Netanyahu visit, CNN, July 23, 2024.

“This is a war criminal that nobody, not a single one of our elected officials should be meeting with Netanyahu. And in fact, what we are demanding from our elected officials is to actually do everything they can to get to a ceasefire to save lives.”

Sonya Meyerson-Knox, Communications Director, JVP

US Capitol Police arrest Jewish activists calling for Israel arms embargo, Al Jazeera, July 23, 2024.

“For so many of us, we are the descendants who survived ethnic cleansing and genocide. Our ancestors and grandparents taught us that the worst thing to do in these moments is to be a bystander.”

Liv Kunins-Berkowitz, Media Coordinator, JVP

Hundreds Arrested as JVP Activists Occupy U.S. Gov’t Office to Protest Against Netanyahu, Haaretz, July 24, 2024.

“For nine months, we’ve watched in horror as the Israeli government, armed and funded by the U.S., has carried out a genocide. Congress and the Biden administration have the power to end this horror today. Instead, our president is preparing to meet with Netanyahu, and Congressional leadership has honored him with an invitation to address Congress. Enough is enough. Biden and Congress must listen to the people: We need an arms embargo now to save lives.”

Stefanie Fox, Executive Director, JVP

Not Welcome: Jewish & Palestinian Activists Protest Netanyahu’s Address to Congress, 400 Arrested, Democracy Now!, July 24, 2024.

“It is absolutely shameful that congressional leadership has invited a war criminal, who is currently leading a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, to address a joint session of Congress”

Beth Miller, Political Director, Jewish Voice for Peace Action 

My 24 Hours In Benjamin Netanyahu’s Washington D.C., Zeteo, July 25, 2024.

“Cameron Jones, a 20-year-old who studies at Columbia University — a central site of many anti-war and pro-Palestine protests — told me how such demonstrations reflect the hope for true co-existence. Jones, who grew up going to Hebrew school and still has family in Israel, harkened back to the spirit of the campus encampment protests. To Jones, they were the vision “for what a free Palestine will look like: people from all backgrounds can come together and coexist in a peaceful place that allows all people from all faiths to prosper successfully.”