🕊️ Who We Are

We are a multigenerational group of Jews in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois from a diverse set of backgrounds and politics. We act together under a shared Jewish moral imperative that all life is precious and that we must act to protect Palestinian lives.

As Jews, we refuse to allow apartheid, war crimes, and genocide to be committed in our name.

WHAT WE DO

We organize around Palestinian liberation to build a just future for all—a future where everyone who lives between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is safe and free. We bring together Jews and allies from all backgrounds to fight oppression through action, learning, and reflection. We support the work and well-being of our Palestinian and Muslim siblings in Urbana-Champaign.

WHY WE DO IT: OUR CORE VALUES

We are guided by Jewish values and take inspiration from generations of Jewish activists and changemakers as we oppose oppression and work to repair injustice.

  1. No life is more valuable than another.
  2. All people have a right to freedom and dignity. We support democratic decision-making at every level to ensure all voices are heard.
  3. Jewish safety and Palestinian safety are intertwined. A sense of safety that comes at the expense of the rights of others is both false and fragile. We must work together to create a just and lasting peace.
  4. Judaism, the Jewish people, and the state of Israel are not interchangeable. Criticisms of the state of Israel and its actions are not inherently antisemitic. Antisemitism is both an ancient and modern form of hatred with complex roots; it is linked with fascism and bigotry. We stand against the weaponization of antisemitism to legitimize state violence and crush dissent.
  5. Every conversation is an opportunity to change and grow. Jews have a long history of debate—a legacy of honoring contradiction, nuance, and difference that makes our community stronger. Dialogue and solidarity lead to progress for all.

HOW WE DO IT: OUR GUIDING FRAMEWORK

  1. Working in coalition is central to our mission. Our ongoing relationships with our local Palestinian partners guide how we contribute to our shared goals. Inspired by Palestinians and liberation movements worldwide, we involve ourselves in the struggles of oppressed and marginalized peoples both domestically and abroad.
  2. We recognize the urgency and necessity of practical action in all its forms—the best way to enact our vision of the world we want to see is to practice it now. We protest, we write, we speak, we donate, we cook, we teach, we kvetch. In all of these, we make space for holding our grief, imagining a better future, and caring for each other. The time we take for reflection and inner work imbues our actions with purpose and affords the power to endure. 
  3. We work through disagreement and find commonality within the scope of our values. We recognize that people can share the same goals while using different terminology. Language is important, but we don’t let word choice hold us back from making partnerships or taking action.
  4. While we come from different backgrounds, we all live in the U.S., which comes with privilege, limitations, and responsibility. We commit to educating ourselves and practicing cultural humility for the experiences of those living in occupied Palestine. Our role is not to determine the precise political solution for Palestinians and Israelis, but to do what we can to shift the American political and cultural landscape closer to our values.
  5. We celebrate the diversity of Jewish cultures, rituals, languages, and traditions. Our existence as a Jewish group explicitly oriented around Palestinian liberation shifts the conversation within Jewish spaces. We shape our community with a commitment to building new Jewish institutions for the future.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alongside our primary purpose to end the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, we must not forget the continuing settler colonialism of the United States government here and abroad. We live and organize on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. These Native nations have active and ongoing relationships with lands they have stewarded for time immemorial. We uplift the efforts of Indigenous peoples around the world to repatriate land and restore cultural practices, as we collaborate in the lifelong struggle to heal intergenerational traumas and dismantle all forms of systemic injustice.