de:		Stefanie Fox <info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org>
responder a:		info@jewishvoiceforpeace.org

JVP's mass sit-in put Gaza back in the headlines.

Dear Luis,   I flew to NYC late Wednesday night because I just knew I needed to be here at the mass sit-in JVP members were planning for the following day. I’d like to tell you it was because our member leaders needed me in some way, but the truth is the opposite.   As we approach the three year mark of the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, and the continued mass murder of Palestinians with our tax dollars, I knew that I needed to be shouting in the street beside other grieving and furious anti-Zionist Jews and our friends. I knew that I needed to feel the visceral experience of our collective power to bring accountability where there has only been impunity. I knew that I needed to feel what it is we can do when we’re together.   Together in lockstep with our partners throughout the movement for Palestinian liberation, we proved that more people than ever are rising up to bring an end to U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and we will not rest until Palestine is free.   It takes resources to make a mass action like this happen — it cost $9,000 to make the beautiful art and banners, put on the trainings, and buy the t-shirts that make our message unmistakable. Will you help us cover the cost?

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Just as war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the United Nations, 400 of us poured into the intersection right outside, wearing matching white t-shirts that read “Jews say fund people not bombs,” and crying out “Let Gaza live!”   With the eyes of the world on NYC, together we disrupted and intervened to remind the world that Netanyahu — Israel’s chief architect of genocide, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and wars of aggression — could only carry out these crimes with the full backing of the U.S.   Our actions shift the narrative and make visible the growing power of the Palestine movement. The thousands of press hits we’ve gotten in 24 hours are proof positive that the tactic is worth it.

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Capturing international headlines

I was talking with a fellow member before the protest about how our actions are like the cover of a book: inside are the many tactics and strategies we pursue day in and day out to achieve material wins in ending the U.S.-Israel alliance that upholds Israeli genocide and apartheid.   But in a moment like Thursday, our task is to bring attention back to the book’s cover title — Stop Arming Israel — and remind people of conscience everywhere of the task at hand.

Every time we stage a mass action like this one, we capture international headlines and keep eyes around the world on Palestine. Thursday's sit-in was covered in outlets around the world, including The Guardian, The New York Times, CNN and so many more.   We ensured that any and all coverage of Netanyahu’s visit directed the attention right where it belongs: at Israeli genocide and ethnic cleansing, at the enormous complicity of the U.S. government in every Israeli war crime, and at the power of everyday people to continue taking action to end that complicity.

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Shifting the narrative

Present with us were actors Hannah Einbinder, Elliot Page, and Susan Sarandon, activists Glennon Doyle and Linda Sarsour, and so many others.   Four of JVP Action’s endorsed candidates for Congress, fresh off their primary victories, were there too: Darializa Avila Chevalier, Rep. Chris Rabb, Dr. Adam Hamawy, and Melat Kiros, as well as incoming Congressional representative Brad Lander, and over 20 New York city and state representatives and Democratic nominees.

The images of our people being arrested for speaking out against the genocide, alongside celebrities and elected officials, show just how far our movement has come in shifting public opinion toward support for Palestine — and how changing the narrative reinforces and strengthens our organizing for material change.

Will you donate at any amount today so we can cover the cost of Thursday's historic sit-in and keep up the pressure to stop arming Israel?   In solidarity,   Stefanie Fox Executive Director, JVP

Jewish Voice for Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(4) national membership organization inspired by Jewish tradition, organizing toward Palestinian liberation and Judaism beyond Zionism.

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