- Jewish activists and allies rallied in Washington, D.C., continue to showcase their opposition to Israeli policies.
- Jewish individuals such as Mateo Rojas and Elana Goldman actively participate in protests and engage in community conversations to address the moral imperative of speaking out against the violence in Gaza.
As the U.S. government continues to express support and provide funding for Israel’s ongoing onslaught of Gaza, young people across the country have rallied to call for a cessation of violence, with notable involvement from Palestinian-American-led groups, including Palestinian Youth Movement who have organised mass protests, teach-ins and cultural events which thousands have been attending week after week.
The latest Gallup Poll figures illustrate that 67% of Americans under 35 oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza. In addition, progressive think tank Data for Progress has released polling that states 61% of Americans overall support a permanent ceasefire.
Within the Jewish American community, a generational political divide is evident. According to a November poll by the Jewish Electorate Institute, 83% of those over 36 support Biden’s handling of the massacre in Palestine compared to only 53% of American Jews under 36. This positions anti-Zionist Jewish Americans as a distinctive group within the Jewish community. As a religious minority in the broader American left, they play a dual role, making headlines through civil disobedience and contributing to the definition of a pro-Palestinian Judaism.
About a week before protesters descended on Grand Central, five thousand progressive Jewish people and allies arrived in Washington, D.C. from all corners- buses out of New York, on flights in from Los Angeles and Toronto, Priuses jam-packed from Jersey. Four days earlier, a group of organisers with progressive Jewish groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow put out a call on Instagram: Come to the capital on October 18 and show that they stand against what the U.N. has warned could be a mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.
Jewish Voice for Peace has consistently identified itself as anti-Zionist for several years. On their official website, they explicitly articulate this stance, underscoring their position that… “While it had many strains historically, the Zionism that took hold and stands today is a settler-colonial movement, establishing an apartheid state where Jews have more rights than others.” While, IfNotNow states that its ambition is to “end American support for Israel’s apartheid system,” They do not explicitly identify as anti-Zionist, yet these two groups have long discovered shared perspectives, particularly in their sustained critique of Israeli policies- a convergence now more pronounced than ever.
As the funding for that violence partly originates from U.S. dollars, certain American Jews, such as 28-year-old Mateo Rojas, sense a moral duty to raise their voices. Rojas, an active participant in October’s protests, serves as an educator at the Workers Circle , which is a progressive Jewish education centre in Boston. In recent weeks, he has dedicated time to strategizing how, as a Jewish educator, he can address the Gaza violence with his students. The overarching theme of his fifth-grade class revolves around social justice movements. I know everyone says it’s a touchy issue,” Rojas said.
“But genocide isn’t a touchy issue.”
Elana Goldman, a 25-year-old social work student hailing from Los Angeles, faced arrest on October 18th. In addition to engaging in direct action, she, akin to Rojas, directs her efforts toward initiating conversations within her own community regarding her perspectives on Zionism and the state of Israel.
“On a systemic level, I do think it’s important for Jews to openly say that they’re not Zionists, that Jews are not a monolith,”
Goldman
“It’s important for people to hear that. As people who have survived a genocide, it’s deeply disturbing to see that being done under the guise of Judaism,” Goldman said.
