Media Roundup: Moving the needle in the fight against genocide.

As mass starvation in Gaza worsened by the day, and the Israeli government continued its brutal genocide against everyone living there, U.S. Jews and allies with JVP continued our fight. Our demands on our elected officials remain clear: end U.S. support and funding for Israeli genocide and allow in a full influx of humanitarian aid. As Jews, we will not ignore the obvious parallels between images of starving children in Gaza and what we grew up knowing was done to our own ancestors. This pressure, finally, is moving the needle in Congress — but we have a long way to go, and we will not rest until Palestine is free.

Gaza War Protesters Arrested at Offices of Schumer and Gillibrand, New York Times, August 1, 2025.

“We can’t just stay silent. The images coming in from Gaza today remind us so much of what happened to our own ancestors.” – Eliza Klein, JVP New York City Organizer

Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Chuck Schumer’s office in New York City, the Guardian, August 1, 2025.

“We are calling on them to let aid in, to stop the bombing and allow aid into the Palestinian people of Gaza right now. This starvation crisis in Gaza is at a tipping point, and so we have to raise our voices.” – Jay Saper, JVP New York

‘It Is Impossible to Watch and Stay Silent’ | Dozens Arrested as U.S. Jews Ramp Up Protests Against Gaza Starvation, Ha’aretz, August 2, 2025.

“As we’re entering Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning, it’s impossible not to see how the 1,900 years of mourning for a more perfect world have been replaced by violence and this idea of a nation-state that is constantly at war. To suggest that Jewish safety requires ethnic cleansing and genocide is a betrayal of Jewish history and values.” – Abby Stein, JVP Rabbinical Council

“Let Gaza Live”: 50 Jewish Peace Activists Arrested Protesting Sens. Schumer, Gillibrand for Vote to Keep Arming Israel, Democracy Now!, August 1, 2025.

“The question isn’t: Why am I here? The question is: Why isn’t everybody here?” – Karen Zeler’Stop Starving Gaza’: 50 Arrested for Jewish-Led Protest at Schumer and Gillibrand’s Offices myer, JVP New York

Dozens Arrested Protesting New York Democrats’ Support Of Arming Israel, Huffington Post, August 1, 2025.

“Less than 36 hours ago, the Senate voted and we saw three-quarters of them refuse to take action to block the sale of arms that would address the starvation crisis. The only way that can address the starvation crisis is if we stop sending the bombs that Israel is continuing to drop on Gaza.” – Jay Saper, JVP New York

Chuck Schumer Protest: Democratic Officials Arrested at Senator’s Office, Common Dreams, August 1, 2025.

The protesters gathered in response to the Senate’s rejection of two resolutions introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an Independent, to block an arms deal to Israel. A majority of Democratic senators voted in support of the resolution, but neither Schumer, the Senate minority leader, nor Gillibrand joined them.

NYC lawmakers arrested at pro-Palestinian protest at offices of Sens. Schumer, Gillibrand, NY Daily News, August 1, 2025.

“Israeli attacks in Gaza have created the highest rate of child amputees in the world. Israel is blocking food, medicine and baby formula from entering Gaza. Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian life and society, and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are writing the checks. Never again is now.”

– Office of NYC Council member Tiffany Caban, who was arrested at the action alongside JVP members

Many Jewish Voters Back Mamdani. And Many Agree With Him on Gaza., New York Times, August 4, 2025.

“This community gets flattened, as if it is a monolith that supports a foreign government, which is simply not the case. Zohran is one of the few candidates who sees the full diversity and complexity of the Jewish community.” – Beth Miller, JVP Action Political Director

What is Project Esther? Unpacking the effort to curb pro-Palestine activism, Snopes, July 29, 2025.

Project Esther does not actually engage with dismantling true antisemitism…Project Esther focuses only on attacking pro-Palestinian advocacy. The Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther is a radically authoritarian blueprint for the far-right to dismantle the Palestine solidarity movement under the false guise of “fighting antisemitism” — and then use the same dangerous (and currently illegal) tactics on other progressive causes. – Jewish Voice for Peace

Local nonprofit apparently fired longtime employee over Palestine activism, Athens County Independent, August 7, 2025.

“False charges of anti-Semitism are being used to destroy careers and lives. [Accusations of antisemitism are] being used to attack anti-Zionists speaking out for Palestine and everybody else speaking out for Palestinian rights. It’s a way of silencing criticism of Israel…so it’s a huge force of control and repression.” – Heather Cantino, JVP Southeast Ohio

Jewish Voice for Peace Detroit fasts in solidarity with Palestinians starving in Gaza, Detroit Free Press, August 5, 2025.

“We want to use our bodies and our platform to continue to build pressure on our elected officials, especially our senators, to stop starvation in Gaza and stop the military violence and ongoing genocide. Fasting is an important part of Jewish tradition to commemorate tragedies. In this case, we are using it as a way to embody our solidarity with the people in Gaza and end the suffering there. – Lex Eisenberg, JVP Detroit

Jewish Voice for Peace organizes documentary screening at the Pewter Spoon, Eagle News Online, August 4, 2025.

“As we begin to hear news anchors, celebrities, and politicians finally calling for an end to the forced starvation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza, this is a critical moment to ensure we are learning just how interconnected our struggles are,” said Carmeli. “The student protest movement has a long, rich history in the US, and we are right now witnessing the very tenets of our democracy unravel as we punish, detain, and deport people for engaging in their right to protest. – Dana Carmeli, JVP Syracuse

“Sports Washing”: Activists Protest JCC Maccabi Games in Pittsburgh, Payday Report, August 6, 2025.

“Jewish Voice for Peace Pittsburgh opposes the JCC Maccabi Games bringing Israeli emissaries to Pitt campus. The Games’ underlying purpose is to promote Jewish teens’ connections to and uncritical support of the state of Israel. It is this – the normalization of unquestioning allegiance to the state of Israel within our Jewish community – that we oppose.” – JVP Pittsburgh

Amid divides, local Jewish groups protest Israel’s starvation of Gaza, the Shoestring, August 2, 2025.

“The generation before me, it’s very hard to come to terms with what Israel is doing…I think that what is really, really important is that we set our differences aside and really think about, what would you say if there was a starving child in front of you?” – Mattea Kramer, JVP Western Massachusetts

Charlotte Jewish Voice for Peace demands justice for Palestinians in Hamas-Israel war, WFAE, July 30, 2025.

“What do you need to see to believe that people don’t deserve to be starved? And I don’t want to say just children because I think it’s really important adults also don’t deserve to be starved.” – Nina Tracy, JVP Charlotte

Palestinian activist denied entry at SFO allegedly murdered by Israeli settler in West Bank, ABC7 News, July 30, 2025.

“[Awdah Hathaleen’s] death was the result of brutal settler violence. We reject settler violence and expansion, and we recommit ourselves to the courageous, loving resistance that Awdah embodied — a spirit that inspired all who had the privilege of knowing him.” – Jewish Voice for Peace

Columbia Limits Speech and Erodes Safety by Adopting IHRA Antisemitism Framework, Truthout, July 28, 2025.

“This is the latest in a series of recent moves by Columbia University that flagrantly — and falsely — invoke Jewish safety in an effort to appease authoritarian forces.” – JVP Action

Protestors gather at the War Memorial to speak out against Gaza conflict, WFYI, July 23, 2025.

“At this point, everything that we can do, from education to connecting with our faith communities to working with our members of Congress, needs to be done. We need everybody involved in this work if we’re actually going to impact the change that we all know has to happen.” – Malkah Bird, JVP Board of Directors

What’s happening in Gaza is genocide. We must not be afraid to say it., Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 23, 2025.

“If we talk about Oct. 7, we must speak about the decades of occupation that preceded it. If we teach about the Holocaust, we must also explain the Nakba and its ongoing consequences. This is not about equivalency. It’s about consistency. Either we believe that mass killing of civilians is wrong, or we don’t. Either we commit to naming genocide wherever it happens, or we abandon the credibility of every genocide memorial we have built.” – Melissa Morsli, JVP Member

Portland rally pleas for permanent ceasefire, end to humanitarian crisis in Gaza, KGW8, August 2, 2025.

“It’s been incredibly frustrating to see how little progress has been made over the course of the past two years. A ceasefire is so basic and isn’t even the same thing as justice. It’s just a halt to the slaughter. But that’s still what we’re pushing for right now.” – Anthony Bencivengo

A Majority of Senate Democrats Now Oppose Arms Shipments to Israel, the Nation, July 31, 2025.

This week, the Vermont independent had the support of 26 other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus… They move the Democratic Party a little further toward the right side of history, confirming that the relentless campaigning from students on campuses across the country, as well as activism by groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the Arab American Institute, IfNotNow Movement, the American Friends Service Committee, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and so many others, is having an impact.

Protesters against U.S. military funding for Israel disrupt policy summit in Sacramento, target Sen. Alex Padilla, KCRA, August 28, 2025.

“Growing up Jewish taught me that we are commanded to pursue peace and justice — and that the hungry must be fed. We’re fed up with politicians who bemoan the massacres and starvation but keep voting to send arms to the perpetrator of genocide. We are Jewish Californians here to hold our Senators responsible. If ‘Never Again’ means anything, it means for Palestinians right now.” – David Mandel, JVP Sacramento

138 Gaza war protesters arrested after they storm Sen. Padilla’s S.F. office, San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 2025.

The afternoon demonstration was one of four organized by California chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish anti-Zionist organization, that saw hundreds turn out across the state. In the past few weeks, as reports of killings and famine continued to come from Gaza, pressure has intensified, especially on Democratic lawmakers, to end Israel’s military activity there. Last month, both Sens. Padilla and Adam Schiff voted against a resolution that would block arms sales with Israel.

138 arrested at S.F. protest of Sen. Padilla’s votes on Israel, Jewish News of Northern California, August 28, 2025.

“For me as a rabbi, it felt meaningful to be there in this time of year in Elul, when we’re atoning [for] our actions and thinking about teshuvah and wondering how we could do better.” – Rabbi Elliot Kukla, JVP Rabbinical Council

Jewish Voices for Peace floods the offices of Senators Padilla, Schiff demanding end to famine and genocide in Gaza, KPFA, 2025.