Media Roundup: The only choice is to keep fighting.

_{Photo: JVP-Twin Cities members demand the U.S. stop arming Israel.}

Nearly 400 days into Israel’s genocide, we refuse to allow the mass slaughter and starvation of Palestinians to become the new normal.

Together, we’re building a cross-class, multiracial, multi-generational movement of U.S. Jews and allies organizing in solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle — and we’re not slowing down. Across the country, JVP members are calling out the institutions, corporations, and individuals who profit from and are complicit in this genocide, from Wall Street to university campuses.

Election Day could have major consequences for our movements, our communities, and our organizing terrain. We don’t know what will happen, but we do know that the only choice is to keep fighting with everything we have to end the U.S.-backed, Israeli genocide of Palestinians.

We won’t stay quiet. We won’t give up. Onwards.

Jews shut down the New York Stock Exchange in protest of Israel. Here’s why, The Guardian, October, 18 2024.

“The Biden administration wants you to believe that the reason they are funding the Israeli military is out of a commitment to Jewish safety. This is the moral cover they use, a cloak for their collaboration in heinous war crimes. As Jews, we reject this myth with every fiber of our beings.”

Elena Stein, Director of Organizing Strategy, JVP 

Jewish Students Mark Sukkot Holiday With Calls to End Israel’s Genocide in Gaza, Truthout, October 18, 2024.

“They don’t see us as real Jews or make claims that we’re self hating Jews because we refuse to support a genocide and the colonization of Indigenous Palestinians. Then, when we try to make our own space on the campus that we pay for, our administration destroys our religious dwelling not once, but twice. Both times accompanied by a swarm of police.”

Gus, JVP-UC Berkeley

Northwestern removes hut honoring Jewish holiday, cites policy; Jewish student group calls action antisemitic, Chicago Tribune, October 19, 2024

““For me, that means honoring the Palestinians who are forced out of their homes by gunpoint, with bombs and with grenades that are being funded by the American government and my tuition dollars through Northwestern’s endowment”

Paz Baum, JVP-Northwestern

“Stop Profiting Off Genocide”: 200 Arrested at Jewish Voice for Peace Protest at NY Stock Exchange, Democracy Now!, October 15, 2024.

“There is nothing antisemitic about fighting for people’s right to live”

_{Elena Stein, Director of Organizing Strategy, JVP}

Jewish Protesters Target Wall Street As Israeli Strikes Hit Hospitals In Gaza, Teen Vogue, October 14, 2024.

“Right now, the Israeli military is dropping bombs on homes, schools, refugee camps, and hospitals in North Gaza. Meanwhile, the members of Congress who vote to send these weapons to Israel invest in these companies and get richer every day.”

Emma Seligman, writer, director, and JVP member

Protesters stage sit-in outside New York Stock Exchange to spotlight Gaza attacks, NBC, October 14, 2024.

200 arrested in anti-Israel protest in outside of New York Stock Exchange, ABC 7 New York, October 14, 2024.

“The U.S. government is sending bombs to Israel that it is using to massacre Palestinians in Gaza and we are calling for that to stop now”

Beth Miller, Political Director, JVP

More than 200 Jewish anti-Israel protesters arrested after storming New York Stock Exchange, NY Post, October 14, 2024.

“The reason we were here, specifically as Jews, is because the Biden administration and the Israeli government often say this genocide they are committing is in the name of Jewish safety and we reject that with every fiber of our being. We were taught in our Jewish tradition that every single life is a universe and that to destroy a single life is to destroy an entire universe.”

Beth Miller, Political Director, JVP

200 arrested at pro-Palestinian Wall Street protest against Israel’s attacks, NBC New York, October 14, 2024.

“As Jews, many of us are descendants of those who survived genocide. Our ancestors taught us to never be bystanders in the face of injustice. We are all responsible for taking action to change the course of history and stop this genocide that is being waged in our name”

_{Jewish Voice for Peace}

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested outside New York Stock Exchange, Associated Press, October 14, 2024.

“The reason we’re here is to demand that the U.S. government stop sending bombs to Israel and stop profiting off of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza”

Beth Miller, Political Director, JVP

200 arrested in anti-Israel protest in outside of New York Stock Exchange, ABC 7 New York, October 14, 2024

“We think the more we speak out, the more people will hear and join us. We hope it will grow more and more. We’ve been doing this for over a year as long as the genocide has been going on.”

_{Rosalind Petchesky, JVP-NYC}

Yom Kippur in NYC | ‘To Build a Space to Mourn All the Lives Lost – Palestinian, Israeli and More’, Haaretz, October 13, 2024.

“One of the most heavily attended events took place at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, where hundreds gathered for a Yom Kippur Yizkor service to mourn both Palestinians and Israelis killed over the past year. Organized by Rabbis for Cease-fire, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, the service featured prayers, the symbolic tearing of garments in mourning, and eulogies delivered by both Jewish and Palestinian speakers.”

200+ Jewish-Led Protesters Arrested at NY Stock Exchange Say ‘Stop Arming Israel’, Common Dreams, October 14, 2024.

“Politicians should not be allowed to profit from genocide. There can be no business as usual while the U.S. arms Israel and profits from genocide. We’re here to demand an arms embargo now.”

Rosalind Petchesky, JVP-NYC

Police arrest pro-Palestinian protesters outside of New York Stock Exchange, The Guardian, October 14, 2024.

“Stocks are rising while children are dying. As Israel drops bombs on homes, schools, and hospitals in Gaza, Wall Street booms, and all the members of Congress who invest in these companies get richer every day”

_{Jay Saper, JVP-NYC}

Jewish Voice for Peace Stages Mass Civil Disobedience Against Gaza War Profiteering Outside NY Stock Exchange, Indypendent, October 14, 2024.

“This is in the midst of some of the holiest days in the Jewish year, and that’s part of why we’re here doing this. Jewish tradition teaches us that every life is a universe, and if you destroy one single life you have destroyed an entire universe. And the U.S. has funded the Israeli government as it has destroyed over 42,000 universes in Gaza. Every single one of those people was someone else’s entire world.”

Beth Miller, Political Director, JVP

Jewish-Led Protesters Storm Wall Street, Demanding Arms Embargo on Israel, Truthout, October 15, 2024.

“Politicians should not be allowed to profit from genocide, but at least 50 members of Congress or their spouses own stock from Lockheed Martin or Raytheon”

Rosalind Petchesky, JVP-NYC 

Nan Goldin Among 200 Jewish Activists Arrested at NYC Protest for Palestine, Hyperallergic, October 8, 2024.

“I’m proud to be arrested with them if it helps amplify our message”

_{Nan Goldin, JVP} 

Opinion: Our Jewish Community Stands with Palestine, St Louis Post-Dispatch, October 9, 2024.

“At the turn of the Jewish new year, our Jewish community finds sweetness in each other. We know, at our core, that our future does not lie with Zionism. Our future is intertwined with the futures of all who we think of, remember, mourn, and with all for whom we struggle.” 

Join us in the Liberation Sukkah, Columbia Spectator, October 16, 2024

“To divorce our ritual practice from our political obligations would render our prayers, let alone our collective history, hollow and senseless. Our political advocacy does not make our sukkah any less of a sacred space. …Make no mistake: Those who will inevitably condemn us for politicizing Judaism are not actually opposed to the joining of politics and religion. They simply support genocide. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods.”

_{Liberation Sukkah Collective at Columbia University} 

Following the violent destruction of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on the UCLA campus, students and faculty members speak out., ACLU Southern California, October 22, 2024

“For seven days, we created a world of possibility, multicultural and interfaith community, collective care, and fierce principles. The encampment claimed space and filled it with art, prayer, music, food, healthcare, and education. There was a lending library. A handwashing station. A medical tent stocked with every variety of sunscreen and bandage. A food tent with warm dishes and matzah for those of us keeping kosher for Passover. The encampment was also a space where students and workers stepped up to support each other and took responsibility for keeping each other safe.”

_{Benjamin Kersten, JVP-UCLA}

UC Berkeley dismantles Jewish religious structure aimed at testing anti-protest rules on campus, San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 2024

“we refuse to support a genocide and the colonization of indigenous Palestinians. when we try to make our own space on the campus that we pay for, our administration destroys our religious dwelling.”

_{Gus, JVP-UC Berkeley}

One arrested as UCLA police dismantle ‘Gaza solidarity sukkah’ and disperse student protest, Los Angeles Times, October 21, 2024

“I refuse to observe Sukkot as normal when university investments continue to fund the genocide of Palestinians. The principle of pikuach nefesh, or saving a soul, demands we put other laws aside in order to preserve human life. I am here aligning my Jewish practice with my support for Palestinian liberation.”

_{Leah Jacobson, JVP-UCLA}

‘Gaza solidarity’ sukkahs test new campus protest rules, Forward, October 22, 2024

“It is not the right of a university to pick and choose which religious rituals students can observe”

_{Jewish Voice for Peace}

Jewish Voice for Peace Sukkot canceled by University, Daily Trojan, October 22, 2024

“Even the slightest mention of Palestine incurs immediate repression and silencing, even when it comes from Jews, despite the University’s claims that they’re protecting Jewish students. As we see right now, they’re only protecting Zionist Jewish students”

_{Student at USC}

‘Gaza solidarity sukkah’ at UC Berkeley’s Sather Gate is dismantled in one day, J., October 23, 2024

“It was extremely upsetting to have our only avenue to celebrate Sukkot as anti zionist Jews destroyed. … We are guided by our commitment to Tikkun Olam, and right now for us that means calling on the UC system to divest from arms manufacturers and calling on the US government to stop arming Israel which is destroying life in Gaza”

_{JVP-UC Berkeley} 

Defend Sukkot! Defend Palestine and Jewish Anti-Zionism!, Left Voice, October 22, 2024

“For the past year we have witnessed the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and even administrators at universities distort our thousands of years-old Jewish traditions to justify genocide. We will not allow our tradition to be exploited by those who seek death and destruction. Our ancestors, many of whom endured genocide and ethnic cleansing, taught us never to be bystanders in the face of injustice”

_{Jewish Voice for Peace} 

UCLA pro-Palestinian protest, including building of religious structure, ends with police dispersal, Los Angeles Daily News, October 22, 2024

Penn Jewish Voice for Peace, Chavurah erect Gaza Solidarity Sukkah on campus, The Daily Pennsylvanian, October 23, 2024

“We want everyone welcome and for Jewish students to know that there’s alternatives to Zionism and that we can have a viable alternative community that exists beyond Zionism”

_{Maddy Kesler, JVP-University of Pennsylvania} 

College Students at Brown, Northwestern Protest to Demand End to Gaza Genocide, Democracy Now!, October 18, 2024

Letters: Northwestern’s removal of sukkah is a violation of free speech, Chicago Tribune, October 24, 2024

“The “pro-Palestine campus demonstrations this past spring” were not antisemitic; the encampment was a space of religious inclusivity and safety. Students held Shabbat services in which hundreds of interfaith people participated and celebrated together. We, as Jews, felt more supported in and connected with our Jewish faith at the encampment than ever before.”

_{Isabelle Butera, Evgeny Stolyarov and Sarah Wachs, JVP-Northwestern} 

US universities remove anti-Zionist sukkahs on campus, Ynet News, October 21, 2024

“This reveals that Northwestern’s claims of caring for Jewish students were really only about punishing any students who speak out for Palestinian freedom. Because we dedicated our Sukkot to the people of Gaza who are currently enduring genocide, Northwestern decided to send in police to harass us”

_{Isabel Butera, JVP-Northwestern}

JVP sets up second Gaza Solidarity Sukkah at The Rock, Daily Northwestern, October 18, 2024

“The university’s violent removal of our sukkah and crackdown on the draconian code of conduct policies do not scare us. We are strengthened in our commitment to a Free Palestine and expressing our Judaism on campus.”

_{Paz Baum, JVP-Northwestern} 

UCPD sweeps Gaza solidarity sukkah in Dickson Court, one protester arrested, Daily Bruin, October 23, 2024

“Many of us feel that we can’t celebrate Sukkot as normal this year, when we’re thinking about the millions of Palestinians who have been displaced in this ongoing U.S.-backed Israeli genocide, and thinking about the complicity of the university in that violence”

_{Benjamin Kersten, JVP-UCLA}

Universities Raze Jewish Students’ Gaza Solidarity Sukkahs, Commons Dreams, October 22, 2024

“A university has no right to dictate what types of Jewish practice are legitimate. Anti-Zionist Judaism is a long-standing and rapidly growing expression of being Jewish.”

_{Liv Kunins-Berkowitz, Media Coordinator, JVP}