What We Stand For

💡

Note: this is a living document that we will change just as our group will over time, learning and adapting.

Our Mission

We organize to build a liberatory future for all - a future where Palestinians and Israelis are safe and free. We create welcoming spaces where Jews from all backgrounds can learn, reflect, and take action together. We support the work and well-being of our Palestinian and Muslim siblings in Champaign-Urbana.

Our Values

No life is more valuable than another

Freedom and dignity for all people

Democratic processes at local and global scales

Collaboration and solidarity lead to progress for all

Justice and understanding are the roots of peace

Our Guiding Principles

Jewish safety and Palestinian safety are intertwined. Honest and specific criticisms of the state of Israel are not the cause of antisemitism. Rather, antisemitism is created by fascism and bigotry. A sense of safety that comes at the expense of the rights and dignities of others is both false and fragile. We must work together to create a just and lasting peace.

Working in coalition is central to our mission. We commit to building ongoing relationships with our Palestinian partners and listening to them to understand how we can best contribute to our shared goals. We also recognize the many other groups in our community working toward shared liberation. These efforts are inclusive and often overlapping.

We recognize that people can share the same goals and vision for the future, while using different terminology to describe what they do. Language is important, but we don’t let word choice hold us back from making partnerships or taking action.

We recognize the necessity of pairing pragmatism with hope. We protest, we write, we speak, we donate, we cook, we teach. At the same time, we make space for holding our grief and imagining a better future. The time we take for reflection and inner work imbues our actions with greater purpose and power.

We practice tikkun olam (world repair). We are not satisfied by paying attention, rather we believe we have a responsibility to oppose oppression and repair injustice. We take inspiration from Jewish activists and changemakers in history and the present day, and we find strength in Jewish rituals and community.

While we come from different backgrounds, we all live in the USA, which comes with both privilege and limitations. We commit to educating ourselves and practicing cultural humility for the lived experiences of Palestinians and Israelis. Our role is not to determine the precise political solution for Israel-Palestine, but to follow our values and do what we can to shift American politics and the American cultural landscape closer to those values.

We participate in the Jewish practice of teshuvah (repentance). We all make mistakes, and we invite anyone who is willing to change and grow to join us. We believe in second chances and we do not give up on our Jewish community members/family members.