For the past year I’ve spent a lot of my time organizing and building community with this group called IfNotNow -- an emergent movement of young American Jews to end our community’s support for the occupation. IfNotNow is grounded in the belief that the liberation of Jews is bound up with other oppressed groups, both in this country and in Israel/Palestine.
Like so many others in this moment, I am afraid for myself and for my friends, family and neighbors, and the planet. I am astonished by the ways that the American Jewish establishment has taken a “wait and see” approach with Trump. The very same institutions which decry any critique of Israel as anti-semitism have remained silent on Bannon, an open anti-semite and racist. It has become abundantly clear that the Jewish establishment will not provide ethical leadership, much less save us or other vulnerable communities from attack.
But I also have hope. Over the past three weeks, IfNotNow has brought more than 2000 people into the streets under the banner of #JewishResistance. You can see photos from our “Day of Jewish Resistance” in 30 cities here.
We are calling on the American Jewish establishment to stop its silence and come out against Stephen Bannon. We know our alliances with other targeted groups is both the right choice for our security and to live out the values inherent in our tradition.
Over the next few months, we will continue to build the #JewishResistance by mobilizing locally and across the nation. We want to train hundreds more people as members of IfNotNow, bring thousands more into the streets, and make the connection in our community between the moral bankruptcy of our institutions and the pro-Israel-at-any-cost politics that reigns in the American Jewish establishment.
However, we can’t make any of this happen without the support of our community. I have pledged to raise $100 to support this work, and I have already committed $18 myself.
Will you join me in helping to build the #JewishResistance?