Donation Pages (not a comprehensive list):
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UN World
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Israeli Organizations Working towards a better
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B'tselem-exposing Israeli Human Rights violations
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English | standing-together:
Israeli and Palestinian Peace Activism
Israeli Groups Abroad Supporting Peace
Israelis for Peace NYC (@israelispeaceny) / X
Friends of Standing Together
(Access to other groups)
After October 7th, I was horrified to see the immediate reaction
from many in the global community to be a callous lack of compassion for the
humanity of the Israeli victims. In the ensuing days, as I wrote in October, many so-called “pro-Palestinian” groups predicated
support for Palestinians by dismissing the real pain of Israelis, including the
families of those killed or taken hostage. Among other examples, a New York
University law student refused to show any empathy towards Israelis, stating “Israel bears full
responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.” They were one of multiple
“pro-Palestinian” activists who callously tore down posters of hostages,
demonstrating regressive values. In my hometown of Berkeley, city council meetings have
been disrupted by a crowd that demeaned and harassed councilmembers and spit on
a Holocaust survivor and called
her a “Zionist pig”. The hatred is real, and the
dismissal of increasingly bigoted and dehumanizing rhetoric across the country
and the world should not be taken lightly. But empathy should never be a
one-way street, and the reality is the pro-Israel community, from otherwise
liberal Jews to the president of the United States have simply shut down their
compassion when it comes to Palestinians.
As horrible as October 7th was for Israelis and the sympathetic
Jewish community, Palestinians in Gaza have experienced the equivalent of
October 7th in death and destruction every week since. There is nowhere safe,
nowhere to hide, and without thousands of dollars of bribes, nowhere to escape.
There are no magic words condemning Hamas that will bring Palestinians safety.
Famine has engulfed Gaza, aided by rampant Israeli obstruction of delivery and
distribution of food. Most buildings are destroyed by Israeli bombs. And what
do our leaders do? They deflect, deny, dehumanize all the same as those
marching in the streets on October 8th. More than 35,000 dead, tens of
thousands more permanently injured, at least hundreds of thousands starving,
and so many who are supposed to be representing me-in the Jewish community and
the Democratic Party, can hardly show a minimum level of empathy.
Nearly every day for the last 6+ months, the Biden administration
demonstrates callous disregard to what Palestinians are going through. One of
the most memorable instances of this was Biden’s statement recognizing 100 days
after October 7th. The statement
referred to 100 days of captivity for hundreds
of hostages with zero mention of the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed,
not to mention thousands of others who had been imprisoned in Israel without
due process for weeks, months, or years, many tortured, several killed. Nor does
it mention the increased horror and despondence in the West Bank as settlers
have been allowed to traipse through Palestinian villages with impunity and
Israeli forces have killed hundreds more Palestinians, many of them civilians.
Nothing should detract from the legitimate pain hostage families are going
through, but empathy must not stop there.
Instead of condemning and punishing Israeli settlers who are
violating Palestinian human rights day in and day out, the US condemns the ICC
for holding Israel at all accountable for the conduct of its leaders. President
Biden said the decision to charge Israeli officials is “outrageous” and that
“whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between
Israel and Hamas.” Instead of recognizing a Palestinian state, the US says
there can be no Palestinian state until nonexistent negotiations occur. Instead
of cutting off weapons that are used to indiscriminately kill civilians, the US
signs a package for billions more in weapons sales and expedites weapons
shipments. Despite government workers pleading that Israel is flouting humanitarian law in its denial of humanitarian aid and reckless actions in
Gaza, the Biden administration deflected and denied that there are clear war crimes. The claim is that
certain actions are “inconsistent with international law”, a similar statement
to what is uttered in response to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
However, while the administration has plenty of time to condemn protestors,
they refuse to issue such open criticism of any of Israel’s policies.
Unfortunately, it often seems that even in the Democratic Party, many
politicians are either in agreement with or unwilling to challenge the “pro-Israel”
AIPAC lobby that won’t even acknowledge that people in Gaza are starving.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has been one of the few members
of the Democratic establishment to call out the state department’s contortions in its report. A longtime
state department official resigned, protesting the politicized conclusions of the report.
Unfortunately, such moral clarity is far from the norm. Jewish organizations
that are supposed to be combating anti-Semitism and hatred have closed their
hearts and decided that defending Israel is more important. The
Anti-Defamation League has been more concerned
with defending Israel’s every move than moving towards justice. The ADL, along
with several other Jewish organizations, castigated Chuck Schumer, a consistent defender of Israel, for simply
stating that Benjamin Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace. The ADL has attacked
anti-Zionism and defended Israel’s war at every turn, as if that is helping
combat antisemitism. While anti-Zionist activism can be rife with hatred and
unrealistic solutions, going after free speech is not the solution. Moreover,
the ADL has ignored the pleas of hostage families begging Jewish institutions to support a hostage deal that would end the
war. ADL has refused to even speak to hostage families and has consistently
attacked calls for a ceasefire regardless of the source. When ceasefire pleas
are either castigated or ignored and even mild criticism of Israel is
considered antisemitic, it will only push protests towards more extreme
positions.
The Jewish Community Relations Council in the San Francisco Bay
Area, purportedly the “largest collective voice for the Jewish community” in
the region, similarly fans the flames of hatred. They are certainly more slick
than the brazen displays of anti-Israeli and broader anti-Semitic messages that
have permeated pro-Palestinian rallies, but they serve to regularly dehumanize
the Palestinian cause. Similar to ADL and other groups, JCRC puts defense of
Israel above care for Jews or the community. The term “blood libel” has been used as a shield to dismiss any allegations of war crimes on Israel’s
part. Whether or not you call it a genocide, Israel, it is grossly
irresponsible to deny any agency to the reality that Israeli soldiers committing
horrific atrocities. As Israeli political scientist Dahlia Scheindlin put it in a January Haaretz column, “Israel has done terrible things to
innocent people.”
In response to the ICC’s application for an arrest warrant for both Israeli and Hamas leaders,
JCRC tweeted "We reject the International Criminal Court's charges
against Israel's leaders as absurd. However you feel about Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the way this war has been waged under his
watch, it is false, misleading and reprehensible to draw any moral
equivalence.” This statement shows an offensive disregard to the
multitude of documented instances of disregard for humanity and attacks on
civilians, which have been inflaming tensions that have spiraled throughout the
months following October 7th. The idea that holding Israel accountable is
“absurd” is frankly offensive in and of itself. Israel is held to a different
standard compared to any other wealthy western country. In fact, Israel is held
to a lower standard than Russia by US foreign policy. While many US politicians
on both sides of the aisle have been quick to label Russia’s incursion into Ukraine a “genocide”, hardly anyone in
power has expressed the same sentiment against Israel’s massacres, despite many statements from Israeli officials (including those opposed to Netanyahu) demeaning
Palestinian lives. And it’s not just the word “genocide” that is a
turnoff-oftentimes, Palestinian lives are not even mentioned.
With help from manipulating institutions, reflexive defense of
Israel’s military actions has bled into the broader American Jewish community.
While Jews tend to be overwhelmingly liberal Democrats, when it comes to the
war on Gaza, humanity seems to have been lost. Compared to the overall American
populace, Jews are more supportive of Israel and of the deadly campaign against
Palestinians. 62% of Jews said in March that Israel’s fighting of the war is
“acceptable” compared to 38% of the American public and only 5% of Muslims.
Only Evangelical Christians are more supportive of the war. Liberal San
Francisco’s “Unity
March” against anti-Semitism was a jarring reminder
of how insensitive many otherwise liberal Democrats are towards Palestinians.
There was not a single word against the horrors Israel has released onto Gaza.
There was no recognition of the suffering and dehumanization Palestinians have
experienced for decades. San Francisco's mayor and state senator have every
responsibility to decry anti-Semitism, but combating hatred should not come
with acceptance of anti-Palestinian bigotry. While Palestinians were hardly mentioned
for most of the rally, the concluding remarks were from an Israeli
representative who demonized all Palestinians for the actions of a few on
October 7th. A woman attending the rally claimed that no one in Gaza was
innocent because she knew a soldier who found a copy of Mein Kampf in every
household. There are certainly real issues with antisemitism in Palestine and
throughout the Arab and Muslim world, but that does not mean everyone is a
terrorist or that violent retribution is an acceptable response.
It should not be hard to acknowledge the horror that has been
imposed on Gaza is not solely the fault of Hamas. It should not be hard to
acknowledge the link between Israeli terror in the West Bank and Palestinian support for acts of terror
in response. Before you say “But Hamas”, consider whether you truly think that
it’s okay that the country you are defending has clear patterns of torturing prisoners. A lawyer who visited one of the detention facilities
called it “more horrific than Abu Ghraib”. Palestinians have been detained for
months without charges. Many were non-combatants, or at least they were prior
to getting tortured for months and then released. Americans should have no
illusions about a war with thousands of videos posted by soldiers blatantly disregarding and
disrespecting any semblance of Palestinian humanity. “In many pictures and
videos that have circulated since the conflict began, and which were reposted
by pro-Palestinian activists to millions of followers, IDF soldiers are seen
blowing up buildings in Gaza while in combat, waving women’s underwear like
flags and rifling through the possessions of Gazans with gleeful expressions.”
We cannot look the other way at such a rampant display of inhumanity. This is
neither a sustainable strategy to defeat terrorism nor is it okay for the
Jewish community to dismiss or excuse such horrific behavior.
Within the darkness that has encompassed the world, there have
been some beacons of hope. Standing Together is one organization that has stood strong for its radical
inclusivity of Palestinians and Jews working together towards reconciliation
and peace. Unfortunately, the forces of hate outnumber the voices for peace.
Support for a Palestinian state among Israeli Jews was already underwater
before October 7th and it has sunk below 25% since. And both Israelis and Palestinians largely support an
exclusionary vision of Israel-Palestine that includes a combination of
ethno-supremacy and ethnic cleansing. This is not a sustainable path forward.
Nor does it reflect our Jewish values. Those of us privileged enough to be
disconnected from the conflict should speak up more. In the United States,
Israeli-lead peace
vigils have drawn crowds of dozens to hundreds
compared to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands at hate-filled marches
that are devoid of compassion for the other side. Enough of the hackneyed
narratives that Israeli Jews can only be considered evil occupiers or
Palestinians are all terrorists. There are hard truths that need to be
confronted, but we are all human beings, and we need to do better.
We must also acknowledge that the dehumanization did not start on
October 7th, and the end of this war, if and when it comes, will leave many
wounds that will take decades to heal. Amid the ruling Israeli coalition’s
support of a far-reaching judicial overhaul threatening further degradation of
Israel’s democracy, Jewish groups, including ADL and the Jewish Federations of
North America did come
together, with even the
Conservative movement stating that the “reform” “represents a clear and present
danger to the country’s independent judiciary, which may still come under
further assault.” Unfortunately, the movement against judicial reform was
largely devoid of any acknowledgement of the continued subjugation of stateless
Palestinians, settler violence and land grabs, and rampant discrimination
against the non-Jewish citizens of Israel. Palestinians have been subject to
such humiliation for decades. While Israel’s political mainstream has lurched
so far away from acknowledgement of Palestinian dignity, we can do our part to
combat dehumanization here.
We call on you, elected and appointed leaders in the Jewish
Community, supporters of organizations like the ADL and JCRC, and all who
believe in the just and legitimate fight for social justice and liberation to
join with us to use our power and privilege to change the conversation about
Israel to one that is centered on shared humanity.
- Ensure
that all public statements recognize the humanity of all peoples in the
region.
- Demonstrate
through votes and advocacy that our tax dollars only support actions that
are consistent with international law
- Support
federal policy to hold the Israeli government accountable for their
inhumane actions
- Support
federal and state policy to block Americans from funding extremist and illegal settlements
- Work
collaboratively with groups and individuals who support a just, safe, and
sustainable peace for Palestinians and Israelis
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