Jews in solidarity with Palestine

As the world watched the continuing Israeli bombing and invasion of Gaza in horror, as angry protests continued around the globe, a group of Jewish people inside the U.S. took a public stand in support of the Palestinian people and against the Zionist settler state.

A Jan. 14 statement issued by the International Action Center on behalf of “Jews in Solidarity with Palestine” said: “No to Israel! Yes to self-determination, democracy and freedom! Stop the U.S.-backed genocidal Israeli war on Gaza! Stop U.S. funding of the war on Palestine!”

Jewish group shuts Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to stop slaughter in Gaza. Photo: Robert Lowden

The statement, signed by an initial list of 53 people, says Israel’s war on Gaza “reflects the program of the Israeli settler state—which is based on the theft of Palestine, the ouster and suppression of the Palestinian people, and the racist ideology of Zionism.” It continues: “It’s not enough to oppose the bombing. It’s not enough to demand an end to the 41-year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

“We stand in complete and unconditional support for the self-determination of the Palestinian people. This includes the right to return to Palestine, from the river to the sea, and the right to democratically determine the form and future of the Palestinian state.”

The JSP statement calls the creation of Israel “a crime [that] betrayed the whole history of the Jewish people,” noting that “from helping topple the czar in Russia and build the unions in New York, to resisting pogroms and fighting to the last breath in the Warsaw Ghetto, opposition to persecution, oppression and racism was central to the Jewish heritage.”

It calls on “Jewish people around the world, including those inside Israel, to join us in reclaiming that heritage. Reject racism and genocide. Reject the Zionist state, the very concept of which is racist to the core. Take the hand of our Palestinian sisters and brothers. Defend their righteous struggle to restore their stolen land and build a democratic Palestine.”

The appeal struck an immediate chord. Hundreds of people responded within hours of the statement going public. In three days, over 1,100 people had added their names as signers or endorsed the JSP statement. The names are still pouring in.

The signers include a survivor of the Nazi holocaust, a child of holocaust survivors, a 1933 refugee from Hitler Germany, and even a resident of an Israeli kibbutz. Messages of support and thanks from non-Jews also arrived.

Jewish actions vs. Israel

The JSP statement and the strong response to it are one indication that the Zionist state’s longtime lock on Jewish loyalty is no longer absolute. Anguished and shamed by the horrors of U.S.-backed Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, more Jewish people are rethinking their support for Israel.

In Los Angeles on Jan. 13, a group of Jewish activists blockaded the Israeli Consulate to protest the Gaza atrocities. They chained themselves together and blocked access to the building.

An open letter from Jewish people to Israeli soldiers is circulating worldwide. It characterizes Israel’s operation in Gaza as a war crime and calls on the soldiers to refuse orders to take part.

Another letter, signed by 78 Jewish people, primarily academics, in England, says, “The time for appeasing Israel is long past,” and demands, “Britain must withdraw the British ambassador to Israel and, as with apartheid South Africa, embark on a program of boycott, divestment and sanctions.”

Inside Israel, another protest against the Gaza war was set for Jan. 17 in Tel Aviv, and some Israeli troops and officers, known as “refuseniks,” have resisted duty in Gaza.

Find more information on the petition at iacenter.org at the headline, “Jews in Solidarity with Palestine,” under the header: “Massacre in Gaza.”