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Voices Against ‘Extermination Campaign’ in Gaza Call Out to the World: ‘This Has to Stop!’

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Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Jewish Voice for Peace activists and allies protest at NBC headquarters in New York City on February 26, 2024. (Photo: Jewish Voice for Peace New York)

“The president needs to start answering to the American people—not the far-right Israeli government indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza,” said Jewish Voice for Peace.

The historic wave of Jewish-led protests against U.S. complicity in Isreal’s genocidal war on Gaza continued Monday as members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace were arrested for occupying NBC headquarters in New York City in a bid to disrupt the taping of President Joe Biden’s appearance on a popular late-night TV show.

JVP activists wearing shirts reading “Not In Our Name” unfurled banners and chanted slogans inside 30 Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, where Biden was taping an interview with the eponymous host of the “Late Night Show With Seth Meyers.”

“Biden, Biden, you can’t hide, you are funding genocide,” the protesters chanted. Banners implored the president to “Stop Arming Genocide” and push for a “Lasting Cease-Fire” in Gaza, where more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded and around 90% of the population has been forcibly displaced since the October 7 attacks on Israel.

“President Biden’s deadly foreign policy has expedited weapons sales to Israel,” said Jewish Voice for Peace New York, which also criticized the administration for ignoring the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling last month that Israel is “plausibly” perpetrating genocide, suspending funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and vetoing three U.N. cease-fire resolutions.

“The president needs to start answering to the American people—not the far-right Israeli government indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza, destroying 70% of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities, and the electricity and water grids,” the group added.

Jay Saper of JVP said Monday that “our Jewish tradition teaches us that life is precious.”

“As Jewish New Yorkers, we are absolutely outraged that President Biden is actively supporting a genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza,” he added.

In addition to taping Tuesday’s “Late Night” episode, Biden and Meyers visited the on-site Van Leeuwen ice cream parlor, where the president ordered mint chip in a sugar cone. While there, a reporter asked when there would be a cease-fire in Gaza.

“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close; it’s not done yet,” Biden replied. “My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a cease-fire.”

Early in the war, Biden proclaimed his “rock-solid and unwavering” commitment to Israel while refusing to call for a cease-fire. As Israeli bombs and bullets killed and maimed tens of thousands of Palestinians—mostly women and children—the president asked for over $14 billion in additional U.S. military aid to Israel, which already receives nearly $4 billion from Washington annually. Biden also repeatedly circumvented Congress to expedite emergency military assistance to the key Middle East ally.

Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingVoices Against ‘Extermination Campaign’ in Gaza Call Out to the World: ‘This Has to Stop!’

As Gaza Death Toll Tops 40,000, Congress Urged to Block New Weapons to Israel

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Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Activists demand an end to U.S. arms transfers to Israel during a May 2, 2024 protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Amnesty International USA)

“U.S. arms transfers to Israel have fueled unimaginable suffering in Gaza, including staggering levels of civilian harm,” said one embargo advocate.

As the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s 314-day assault on Gaza passed 40,000—a figure experts say is likely a vast undercount—human rights groups this week decried the Biden administration’s approval of $20 billion worth of new weapons for Israel and renewed pleas for Congress to block further arms transfers to the nation on trial for genocide at the World Court.

On Tuesday—just days after Israeli forces used at least one U.S.-supplied bomb in an airstrike on a Gaza City school that killed scores of forcibly displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering there—the Biden administration notified Congress of the pending sale of a new weapons package that includes dozens of F-15 fighter jets, tens of thousands of 120mm mortar shells, over 32,700 tank shells, and 30 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles.

Since October, Congress and the Biden administration have approved more than $14 billion in unconditional military aid to Israel. President Joe Biden has signed off on more than 100 arms transfers to Israel during that period. This, atop the $3.8 billion in annual armed aid the U.S. already gives to the key Middle Eastern ally.

“Israel used U.S.-made weapons in May when it slaughtered Palestinian families sheltering in tent camps in Rafah,” Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) said Wednesday. “Israel used U.S.-made weapons when it bombed the al-Mutanabbi school in Khan Younis in early July, killing over two dozen displaced Palestinians seeking refuge there. And it used U.S.-made weapons on Saturday to murder over 100 Palestinians while they prayed.”

“Biden continues to send weapons to Israel, and both political parties—Republicans and Democrats—have cheered on the Israeli government’s slaughter and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” JVP continued. “This is a U.S.-perpetrated genocide as much as it is an Israeli one.”

“But the Democratic voting base is calling for something different, and we have seen the progressive and increasingly mainstream wing of the party begin to echo this need,” the group said. “We are playing a critical role in driving the Democratic Party to finally catch up to the demands of its own base.”

“Right now, we have an opportunity to re-center Gaza in the national conversation and continue building pressure on the Biden administration, on [Vice President] Kamala Harris, and on Democratic members of Congress to support an immediate arms embargo,” JVP added.

While Harris has expressed sympathy for Palestinians suffering what she called a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, the vice president and Democratic presidential nominee, like Biden, has proclaimed her “unwavering” support for Israel. One aide said last week that Harris does not support an arms embargo.

“The decision to approve yet another massive sale of arms to Israel is appalling and a blatant violation of U.S. and international law and policy,” Annie Shiel, the U.S. advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said on Thursday.

“U.S. arms transfers to Israel have fueled unimaginable suffering in Gaza, including staggering levels of civilian harm, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and an ever-growing humanitarian catastrophe,” Shiel continued. “The U.S. is complicit in this devastation.”

“Congress must block these sales, including through the introduction of joint resolutions of disapproval,” she added, “and the Biden-Harris administration must finally end U.S. arms transfers and use its leverage to bring about an immediate cease-fire.”

The international anti-poverty NGO ActionAid said Thursday: “We are outraged and heartbroken by the staggering loss of 40,000 lives in Gaza. It is a number that is incomprehensible—every life lost is an individual tragedy.”

“But this is not an inevitable one, it is an ongoing atrocity, and it could have been prevented,” the group continued. “Most governments across the world have refused to do the bare minimum to protect civilian life and it is to our collective shame. We are losing confidence each day in the concept of justice.”

“We reiterate our calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urge all governments to meet their obligations under international law and use all available means to take immediate and decisive action to ensure the safety and security of all civilians,” ActionAid said.

“We call for the imposition of sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Israeli officials linked to alleged violations of international humanitarian law,” the NGO added. “Every day that you choose to avoid this as a reality, this death toll will keep rising until there is nobody left in Gaza alive.”

In addition to the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for warrants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and for three Hamas leaders, at least one of whom has been assassinated by Israeli forces.

The Biden administration and numerous members of Congress have condemned the courts’ pursuit of justice for Israel and its leaders. In June, 42 Democrats joined nearly every Republican in the House of Representatives in passing a bill that would sanction ICC officials over Khan’s application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

In addition to rights groups, a coalition of journalists, news outlets, and press freedom organizations on Thursday implored the Biden administration to immediately halt arms transfers to Israel.

As the tight 2024 presidential race between Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, heads toward the home stretch, a survey commissioned by the Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding Policy Project and conducted by YouGov revealed this week that Democratic and Independent voters in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania would be more willing to vote for Harris if she backed an arms embargo on Israel.

Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingAs Gaza Death Toll Tops 40,000, Congress Urged to Block New Weapons to Israel

30+ Arrested in Chicago Protest Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire

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Original article by JESSICA CORBETT republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

More than 30 Chicago demonstrators demanding a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip were arrested on March 8, 2024.  (Photo: Benjamin Lorber)

“We can’t go on acting as if the genocide isn’t happening,” said one demonstrator who blocked traffic. “We’re raising our voices to say no genocide in our name!”

Organizers said over 30 protesters were arrested in Chicago on Friday morning for blocking rush-hour traffic to demand a cease-fire in Israel’s U.S.-backed war on the Gaza Strip.

“We can’t go on acting as if the genocide isn’t happening,” said Deborah Adelman, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Chicago who blocked traffic at W. Jackson Boulevard and S. Dearborn Street. “We’ve been out on the streets for five months and we’re not going anywhere.”

The demonstration capped off a 24-hour vigil backed by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Educators for Palestine, Chicago Teachers Union Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators, Dissenters, Jewish Fast for Gaza, Tzedek Chicago, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and local chapters of American Muslims for Palestine, IfNotNow, and JVP.

“We’re raising our voices to say no genocide in our name!” Adelman declared. “We’re here risking arrest to show our solidarity with the people of Gaza who are suffering an unfathomable assault.”

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Since Israel launched its brutal retaliation for a deadly Hamas-led attack on October 7, Israeli forces have killed at least 30,878 people in Gaza, injured another 72,402, displaced most of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents, restricted humanitarian aid, and devastated civilian infrastructure including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

For the morning action in the Illinois city—whose council called for a Gaza cease-fire in a contentious January resolution—protesters linked arms and held banners that read, “>30,000 Dead—Not One More” and “End the Siege on Gaza Now!”

Vigil participants also spent several hours reading aloud the known names of those killed. After his turn, Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein told the Chicago Tribune: “At least at the bare minimum, we will pronounce somebody’s name correctly and have a moment of dignified memorialization for blessing for people who were killed prematurely in such a grotesque way… I have to imagine they did not have proper burials according to their beliefs and traditions and customs.”

As the death toll mounts in Gaza, Israel is facing a South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice while U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are the targets of a complicity case in federal court.

Biden has made promises to step up humanitarian efforts for Gaza in recent days, but the United States also gives Israel $3.8 billion in annual military aid and since October 7, his administration has repeatedly bypassed Congress to arm Israeli forces while seeking a package worth over $14 billion.

Since last fall, critics of the Israeli assault and U.S. complicity have taken to streets, bridges, tunnels, transit hubs, government buildings, and the campaign headquarters of Biden—who is seeking reelection in November—to call for an end to the genocide.

“Civil disobedience is integral to what my family and my ancestors have practiced for generations,” said Nitaawe Banks, a member of the Native American and Indigenous Students Association at DePaul University who blocked traffic in Chicago. “My grandfather was kidnapped by the U.S. government and taken 2,000 miles away to a boarding school where the federal government attempted to forcibly assimilate him.”

“At that time it was illegal for him to practice his religion and traditions,” Banks noted. “He went on to participate in the occupation at Wounded Knee. I’m here today to protest in solidarity with Palestine and to illustrate the lack of legitimacy the U.S. empire has.”

In addition to the Friday morning action, the #StateOfTheGenocide vigil included an alternate State of the Union that coincided with the president’s annual address. There were prepared speeches from In These Times executive editor Ari Bloomekatz and Eman Abdelhadi, an organizer, writer, and professor at the University of Chicago, along with remarks from other attendees.

“Biden is addressing the nation without listening to his public and, as he speaks, the death toll rises in Gaza. Just last week the Israeli military opened fire on crowds of starving Palestinians waiting for aid,” said Aaron Neiderman of IfNotNow Chicago ahead of the speeches. “We demand a permanent cease-fire and an end to this genocidal war.”

Original article by JESSICA CORBETT republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue Reading30+ Arrested in Chicago Protest Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire

‘Not In Our Name!’ Hundreds Arrested at US Capitol as Jewish-Led Protest Demands Gaza Cease-Fire

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Jewish Americans and allies are lined up after being arrested during an October 18, 2023 protest calling for a cease-fire in Gaza at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Ariel Gold/X)

“Cease-fire is the first step to stop the ongoing genocide by the Israeli military of the over 2 million Palestinians in besieged Gaza,” asserted Jewish Voice for Peace.

Hundreds of Jewish Americans and allies were arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday during a protest demanding members of Congress push Israel for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where nearly 3,500 Palestinians have been killed over 12 days of relentless Israeli bombardment.

Thousands of protesters led by members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), IfNotNow, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), and other groups rallied on the Capitol grounds and inside the building, where hundreds of people took part in a sit-in.

Their chanted slogans—including “not in our name” and “cease-fire now”—resounded thunderously under the Capitol Rotunda, while at other times they clapped their hands and sang with solemn determination in Hebrew.

“We’re here to say: not in our names, and never again,” JVP declared. “And we’ll continue our civil disobedience until Congress calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, or until they force us to leave.”

“Cease-fire is the first step to stop the ongoing genocide by the Israeli military of the over 2 million Palestinians in besieged Gaza, unable to leave,” the group continued. “In the past week, over 3,000 Palestinians, including 1,000 children, were murdered by Israeli and U.S. bombs. Over 1 million people are displaced. We have the power to stop this violence.”

“What we know from past Israeli state atrocities against Palestinians is that the bombs only stop once there is a sufficient mass outcry from the international community,” JVP added. “It’s on us to build that outcry—as fast as we possibly can.”

Speaking outside the Capitol, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—the only Palestinian American in Congress—said that “the majority of Americans are literally against oppression.”

“They are,” she insisted. “They are against occupation. They are against human rights violations. If you just tell them the truth, they will be on our side. So we have to speak the truth.”

Tlaib had a message for President Joe Biden, who has declared his “rock-solid and unwavering support” for Israel, which he visited Wednesday and receives nearly $4 billion in annual U.S. military aid.

“I want him to know, as a Palestinian American and also as someone of the Muslim faith: I’m not gonna forget this,” she vowed. “And I think a lot of people are not gonna forget this.”

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who led a resolution with Tlaib and 14 progressive co-sponsors calling on Biden to push for a cease-fire, also spoke at the rally.

“We thank our Jewish community for being out here saying ‘Never Again’,” she said.

Author and activist Naomi Klein told the demonstrators that “it’s crucial that we become huge, become unignorable, and throw all our support behind this brave legislation.”

JVP, IfNotNow, and peace activist Ariel Gold—who was at the event—said hundreds of protesters were arrested.

Wednesday’s protest and arrests followed a string of Jewish-led peace demonstrations across the nation, including two major rallies in Washington, D.C. IfNotNow’s website lists many events planned in cities around the country in the coming days.

“The Israeli military is preparing for a massive ground invasion of Gaza. Israeli and American leaders are dehumanizing Palestinians with vitriolic rhetoric that calls to mind the most hysterical days of… [the] War on Terror,” JVP said Wednesday. “We know where this will lead: genocide.”

“Many of us are mourning our Israeli and Palestinian friends and loved ones,” the group continued. “We are in pain and grief, trying to process a week of horrific violence that has left so many that we know injured, traumatized, kidnapped, or killed.”

“But we refuse to let our grief be weaponized to justify the murder of more Palestinians,” JVP added. “As American Jews, we demand a cease-fire now. No genocide in our name.”

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue Reading‘Not In Our Name!’ Hundreds Arrested at US Capitol as Jewish-Led Protest Demands Gaza Cease-Fire