Like much of the world, we have spent the last week watching in shock and disgust as Israel continues its assault on the Gaza Strip. With the body count rising and a new tragedy in full bloom, we feel that it is important to speak out as Jewish youth in Canada and to denounce what Israel is doing in our name. The Jewish diaspora is diverse and divided on its positions on the state of Israel's policies. At this juncture in history, as Israel has committed its worst massacre in Gaza since it began its illegal occupation in 1967, we feel that it is crucial that Jews speak out and denounce Israel's actions that amount to no less than war crimes committed by an apartheid state.
As Jewish youth, we are diverse, but we are unified in our solidarity with
our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza.
As Jewish youth, we are diverse, but we are unified in our solidarity with
our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza.
Some of us are students. We are outraged by the bombing of the Islamic
University in Gaza city, as well as other civilian infrastructure such as
hospitals and mosques.
Some of us are Arab-Jews and people of colour. We stand against Israel's racism, which has been enshrined in Israeli law, and privileges its Jewish citizens over its non-Jewish ones.This apartheid state views Palestinians as an expendable people, no more than collateral damage.
Some of us are queer. We reject Israel’s branding of itself as the only
safe place for queer people in the Middle-East while it targets gay and
lesbian Palestinians and renders life unsafe for millions of others.
Some of us are Israelis living in Canada. We are calling for a solidarity
that stretches beyond borders and nationalities. Israel's violent actions
will only serve to further isolate the state and its citizens from the
rest of the world. By calling itself a Jewish state and committing war
crimes in the name of Jews everywhere, Israel makes the world even less
safe for Jews, leading to an increase in animus towards Jewish people
around the world.
Even though there have been approximately 100 Palestinian deaths for every
Israeli killed by rocket fire, we recognize that Israeli Apartheid also
leads to Israeli casualties. The blame for these deaths lies with Israel –
if there were no occupation and no apartheid policies, there would be no
rocket fire. If Israel, the world's fourth largest military power, is
concerned about its citizens, it would abandon its apartheid policies and
seek out justice for the Palestinian people.
In 2005, Palestinian civil society put out a clear call for international
support through a non-violent campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and
Sanctions (BDS) similar to that carried out against the apartheid regime
of South Africa. Now, with the people of Gaza being crushed by Israeli
bombs, manufactured in the USA and launched with Canada's blessing, it is more important than ever for Jewish communities throughout the world to take up this BDS campaign in order to end Israel's apartheid system, which makes life unsafe for millions of Jews and Palestinians alike.
Let us not be silent bystanders while humanity suffers. Let us raise our
voices, as Jewish youth, and demand a single, democratic state, with equal rights for everyone in Israel/Palestine.
Ours is a generation that is committed to ending Middle-East violence by
opposing all forms of discrimination, calling for a just peace within the
entire region, and condemning Zionism to the dustbin of history.
Free Gaza, Free Palestine,
Jenny Peto, Toronto ON
Aaron Lakoff, Montreal QC
Max Silverman, Montreal
Rachel Gurofsky, Peterborough ON
Simon Gurofsky, Ottawa ON
Zohar Melinek, Montreal
Claire Hurtig, Montreal
Ben Saifer, Ottawa
Brook Thorndycraft, Toronto
Joel Balsam, Montreal
David Mandelzys, Toronto
Reena Katz, Toronto
Mia Amir, Vancouver BC
Matthew Shuster, Kingston ON
Avi Grenadier, Kingston ON
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Waterloo ON
Melissa Harendorf, Montreal
Jeff Hiemstra, Toronto
Sacha Moiseiwitsch, Vancouver
Jake Javanshir, Toronto
Noam Lapid, Montreal
Stephen Kamnitzer, Toronto
Naava Smolash, Vancouver
Tamara Herman, Victoria BC
Ryan Katz-Rosene, Ottawa
Sarah Fuchs, Montreal
Daniel Thau-Eleff, Winnipeg MB
Deborah Rachlis, Ottawa
Marie L. Belliveau, St. Catharines ON
Sarah Kardash, Sackville NB
David Taub Bancroft, Vancouver
Kinneret Sheetreet, Montreal
Rachel Marcuse, Vancouver
Lisa Barrett, Bowen Island BC
Maisie Jacobson, Montreal
Max Tennant,Vancouver
Noah Fine, Vancouver
David Hill, Vancouver
Corey Balsam, Ottawa
Lee Skinner, Vancouver
Britt Lehmann-Bender, Toronto
Alexis Mitchell, Toronto
Jesse Rosenfeld, Montreal
Aviva Cipilinski, Winnipeg
Daniel Tetrault, Vancouver
Yaacov Iland, Kitchener ON
Jonah Gindin, Toronto
Rachel Huot, Toronto
Michelle Ohnona, Montreal
Myka Tucker-Abramson, Vancouver
Smadar Carmon, Toronto
Eytan Holtzer, Kingston ON
Jordan Topp, Montreal
Irene Germain, Montreal
Emma Beltran-Kulikovsky, Toronto
Adam Balsam, Ottawa
Natalie Kouri-Towe, Toronto
Simone Arsenault-May, Toronto
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