For the past year I have been organizing with IfNotNow a movement to end American Jewish support for the occupation and achieve freedom and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians. 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. As Jews that grew up in youth groups, camps, and synagogues that actively support the occupation, we believe that our love for our community commands us to act against this injustice.
In a time when Jewish institutions like The Federation refuse to condemn Trump and his appointees, who pose a direct threat to Jews and other minorities, we feel we have a duty to speak out and to resist. Being part of IfNotNow has connected me to my Jewish identity in a profound and personal way. I am so proud to be Jewish today and to be building the kind of Jewish community that reflects my values.
IfNotNow gives me hope in the age of Trump. 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.
Last night I was proud to organize a hanukkah party that brought together 300 young Jews and which fostered a culture of consent and welcomed interfaith couples, LGBTQ+ Jews, Jews of color and non Jewish allies. I wrote about the experience in a very personal blog post that you can find here: http://lilith.org/blog/2016/12/the-misogyny-of-the-matzoball/
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 $2000 to support this work, and I have already committed $200 myself. I am asking friends and family to consider contributing.