Jews Arrested In NY City Over Gaza Bombing, More Expected Nationwide

Nine Jews were seized and arrested Tuesday just after 12:00 noon over the IDF bombing of Gaza that has killed over 600 Palestinians, mainly women, children and the elderly, and sent over 1000 fleeing into refugee shelters.

The nine Jews were captured at Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces (FIDF) office on Broadway and 40th. Over two dozen others stood with them in solidarity in front of the building and several lay in the street with makeshift shrouds as a “die-in.”

There will be more of such actions Thursday, Jewish leaders say.

“….destruction of hospitals, schools, and water and electrical lines is clearly intended to create widespread suffering among the entire population.”

(Above photo: Brave Jewish woman arrested in NY Tuesday for reading out names of #Gaza dead. #GazaUnderAttack #Jews pic.twitter.com/B7Ml68YwzA. Credit: Twitter, billmon (billmon1) on Twitter)

Thursday’s demonstrators, mainly Jewish Voice for Peace and Jews Say No! members, included the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Jewish Voice for Peace executive director, and a young paralegal, one of millions who went on an Israeli-sponsored propaganda trip to Israel, that had the opposite effect. 

“When we entered the office, the employees became upset, and eventually called the police. Some of the staff took pictures of demonstrators, who remained calm and read the names of the 621 Palestinians who have been killed,” said Lizzie Busch, who accompanied those arrested into the FIDF offices.

Those arrested were processed at Midtown South Precinct. 

Jewish Groups Stand Against Israeli Government’s Brutal Assault Against Palestinians of Gaza, Say Truth Must Be Told

Deeply concerned Jews in New York City, along with Jews across the United States, are engaging in or planning to engage in acts of civil disobedience for two reasons, they say:

1) to stand against Israel’s latest massacre of Palestinians of Gaza, and

2) to demand that the truth be told about the horrendous violence being perpetrated by the Israeli government and army against 1.8 million Palestinian people and the underlying causes of that violence.

“We are engaging in civil disobedience at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) because the IDF and Israeli government are responsible for the systematic and ongoing brutality against the Palestinian people,” stated Carolyn Klaasen, a participant in today’s action and member of Jewish Voice for Peace, an organizer of Tuesday’s protest. 

“In this most recent vicious assault alone, the IDF has caused the deaths of upwards of 502 Palestinians, many of them children, as well as over 3000 injured. Calling the IDF a ‘defense force’ is absurd,” Klaasen said.

“It’s an illegally occupying army.”  

The group demands that IDF ends its brutality and is calling on American Jews and all Americans to stand against Israel’s military occupation of Palestine and its ongoing assault against the people of Palestine.

The two Jewish groups have clairified that, despite claims to the contrary by the Israeli government, they and thousands upon thousands of Jews vehemently oppose Israel’s behavior and stand firmly with the Palestinians of Gaza during this time.

“This is far from being a defensive operation, as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is claiming. It is, in fact, an aggressive operation of destruction, fueled by the Israeli government’s insatiable desire for Palestinian land,” said Alana Krivo-Kaufman, from Jewish Voice for Peace, an organizer of Tuesday’s protest.

“We are demanding an end to funding of Israel’s war crimes, from the US government to so-called charitable organizations like the Friends of the IDF, which fundraises for a foreign military complicit in on-going occupation and a war of destruction against the Palestinian people.”

The Jewish protesters point to the hugely disproportionate use of Israeli force in Gaza. 

“The Palestinian people, who have been stateless for decades and many of whom who are being held captive as prisoners inside of Gaza, are being bombarded by Israel with some of the most advanced weapons in the world–funded by US dollars,” said Jane Hirschmann, from Jews Say No!, another organizing group. “And the Palestinian people have no shelters to run to and no way to leave. While the current violence is out of control, the pattern of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people is long-standing.”

A Holocaust survivor’s daughter, Maia Ettinger, who travelled from Connecticut to participate, pointed to a fallacy of the Israeli hasbara (propaganda) spin:

“Israelis claim they are not targeting civilians, but the destruction of hospitals, schools, and water and electrical lines is clearly intended to create widespread suffering among the entire population,” Ettinger said.

The call for an immediate end to Israeli state violence and the call for human rights and justice for the Palestinian people are reverberating across the globe. Calls for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel and companies that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine have intensified and are now more important than ever. 

Tuesday’s action was sponsored by two Jewish organizations, Jews Say No!, (jewssayno.org), a NYC group that stands as a partner in the broader movement for justice in Palestine/Israel and also engages with the Jewish community through street protests and community education, and Jewish Voice for Peace,  (www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org), a national grassroots organization dedicated to achieving a just and lasting peace that recognizes the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination.

Jewish Voice for Peace has over 140,000 online supporters, 40 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Cabinet, and an Advisory Board of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.

Leaders say to expect nationwide action Thursday as they have called for National Day of Action on Gaza.

In Los Angeles, the Jewish people for peace are sponsoring a “Die In & Naming of Over 631 Palestinians Killed to Date.”

“Come out to demonstrate against Israel’s military occupation of Palestine and its ongoing assault against the people of Palestine,” they said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “Come stand with Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine and other local organizations to oppose Israel’s behavior and stand firmly with the Palestinians of Gaza during this time.”