As a Palestinian and an activist engaged on Palestine and Israel affairs, I've had the great fortune to meet many Jewish people who act in good conscience in solidarity in the Palestinian struggle for freedom.
In my college years, one of my political mentors was a Jewish man named Scott. Scott was older than us naive university students, but he was an uncompromising leftist fighting against Reagan's wars on Central America. He taught me so much about political organizing and solidarity movement building.
When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 1991, Scott was one of many activists that cried with me as we learned the news. He had stood by me as Jewish students yelled "sand-nigger" and "terrorist" at me for wearing a kuffiyeh on campus. He knew that the Middle East would never be the same again. I'm grateful to Scott for teaching me about Jewish cultural traditions that don't allow one to remain silent in the face of injustices.
News today from the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans reminded me of my old friend.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu addressed the large gathering of Jewish leaders this morning, a group representing Jewish Voice for Peace disrupted the proceedings. Five of the young adults involved in the protest, including 3 Israelis and Israeli–Americans, unfurled banners reading:
The Settlements Delegitimize Israel
The Occupation Delegitimizes Israel
The Siege of Gaza Delegitimizes Israel
The Loyalty Oath Delegitimizes Israel
Silencing Dissent Delegitimizes Israel
From the Jewish Voice for Peace press release:
These actions are in part a protest of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and Jewish Public Affairs Council (JCPA) newly announced $6 million dollar program to target campus, church, peace and human rights groups that are working to end Israel’s human rights violations through nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions pressure campaigns. The Federations and JCPA are calling this initiative the “Israel Action Network.” Critics say it is a “Shoot the Messenger” approach.
“We’re here to call out the elephant in the middle of the room. Israel continues to expropriate Palestinian land for Jewish-only communities, passes increasingly racist laws in the Knesset, the foreign minister wants to strip Palestinian citizens of their citizenship — these are the reasons Israel is becoming a pariah in the world, NOT the human rights groups that are using nonviolent economic pressure to hold Israel accountable. We would be dismissing the values we were raised on if we did not speak up.” (Eitan Issacson, Israeli-American, Seattle)
The protesters also drew attention to their Young Jewish Declaration which includes a section called "we refuse":
We refuse to have our histories distorted or erased, or appropriated by a corporate war machine. We will not call this liberation. We refuse to knowingly oppress others, and we refuse to oppress each other. We refuse to be whitewashed. We will not carry the legacy of terror. We refuse to allow our identities to be cut, cleaned, packaged nicely, and sold back to us. We won’t be won over by free vacations and scholarship money. We won’t buy the logic that slaughter means safety. We will not quietly witness the violation of human rights in Palestine. We refuse to become the mother who did not scream when wise King Solomon resolved to split her baby in two. We are better than this. We have ancestors to honor. We have allies to honor. We have ourselves to honor.
May the brave actions of this group give courage to other young people who are uncertain about how to reconcile what they have been taught about Israel and their strong spiritual groundings in Judaism and its traditions. A strong Israel will respect the rights of Jews and non-Jews alike.
Update
Video of the activists