Terrible is all around us but we believe in a vision that is as simple as it is huge: equality for all people!
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- Published on Tuesday, 05 July 2016 15:30
- Written by editor
Dear PAOV,
Terrible is all around us.
Yesterday, the village of Al-Araqib was demolished for the 100th time.
Earlier this week, police violence against Palestinians in Jerusalem escalated yet again, with worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque hit with tear gas and rubber bullets.
And in spite of heroic - and very much ongoing - campaigning nationwide, anti-BDS bills reached the governor’s desk in both New Jersey and Rhode Island.
We’ve entered the 50th year of military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. It’s been 68 years since more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes as the state of Israel came into being.
Past and present, these events mark such a thorough rejection of basic human rights it’s hard to even wrap our minds and hearts around it.
We’re motivated by a vision that is as simple as it is huge: equality for all people.
But from a financial perspective, the things we need are actually even simpler and smaller. We need plane tickets to bring our members together, food and flip charts for late night meetings, buses to bring people to state capitols, plus factsheets, brochures and banners.
Those simple, small things create magic.
Like earlier this week, when our Rabbinic Council gathered in Chicago for a 3-day intensive retreat to deepen their moral, spiritual, and communal leadership in this movement.
Or the week before, when we partnered with the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace to stand witness at the Presbyterian and Unitarian Universalist general assemblies where hundreds of delegates voted for and won resolutions to deepen their communal engagement with nonviolent action to hasten the end of Israeli human rights violations.
And every day we hear from people who’ve discovered in JVP a way of bringing their full selves into Jewish community for the first time.
I’m asking you to help us cover those small things that make the magic of real grassroots organizing and transformative communications happen.
Sincerely,
Ari
Ari Wohfeiler
Deputy Director
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national membership organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all the people of Israel and Palestine. Become a JVP Member today.
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