Tag: Gaza

CT Jews Commend Sen. Chris Murphy for Voting to Block Arms Sales to Israel Fueling Gazan Genocide

by Miranda Rector, JVPNH and Sarah White, HJOC

Jewish Voice for Peace of New Haven (JVPNH) and the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective (HJOC) commend U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy for his vote Nov. 20, 2024, to block the sale of weapons to Israel such as Joint Direct Attack Ammunitions and 120 mm mortar rounds that are being used to kill thousands in Gaza in the ongoing Israeli genocide.

Sen. Murphy joined 18 other US Senators in voting to approve Senator Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the Biden administration’s 20 billion dollar arms sale to Israel. Although the resolutions did not pass, this was the first Senate vote ever to stop arms sales to Israel. Sen. Murphy was among the 7 of the 11 Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that voted in favor. Three of the nine Jewish members of the Senate also voted in favor. The vote signals growing support within the Democratic party that cutting off the flow of weapons to Israel is the only way to end the US-backed genocide that has killed more than 44,000 Gazans so far, including at least 16,000 children, with the actual death toll far higher.

JVPNH and HJOC joined organizations across the state in urging Sen. Murphy to vote in favor of the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, including by organizing a constituent letter with over 440 signatures, hosting a Children’s Day where participants colored drawings for Sen. Murphy, organizing more than 60 Jews to call Senator Murphy at a Shabbat dinner, canvassing local neighborhoods, and participating in numerous phone banks.

“The organizing that went into persuading Sen. Murphy is a huge victory. We showed both that Connecticut Jews and allies support blocking weapons to Israel and that we’re a powerful voice for change,” says Miranda Rector, a Chapter Coordinator for JVP New Haven. “We must continue to use our collective power to stop arming Israel and end the genocide.”

“The U.S. government is actively enabling the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign, offering it unconditional funding and weapons, as well as impunity, in direct violation of international laws. This makes every taxpayer complicit in this ongoing genocide and the Israeli military’s more recent assaults on Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen,” says Sasha Zoldessy, an organizer with HJOC.

To contact Jewish Voice for Peace of New Haven, phone Miranda Rector at 203-850-7183 or email [email protected].

To contact Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, phone Sarah White at 206-388-7222 or email [email protected].

Activists gathered Oct. 7 Action on Gaza at Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s Office

On Oct. 7, peace and justice activists gathered in front of Rep. DeLauro’s New Haven office at 59 Elm St. for a community reading of the open letter to Pres. Biden and Vice Pres. Harris from American medical professionals who served in Gaza. The letter was then given to her aide Lou Mangini to read to her. The reading was organized by the Greater New Haven Peace Council.

Below are excerpts. The entire letter is online at www.gazahealthcareletters.org/usa-letter-oct-2-2024.

I’ve never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources. Our bombs are cutting down women and children by the thousands. Their mutilated bodies are a monument to cruelty. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, trauma and critical care surgeon, Veterans Affairs general surgeon

I saw so many stillbirths and maternal deaths that could have been easily prevented if the hospitals had been functioning normally. Dr. Thalia Pachiyannakis, obstetrician and gynecologist

Gaza was the first time I held a baby’s brains in my hand. The first of many. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, orthopedic and hand surgeon

Open Letter from American Medical Professionals Who Served in Gaza

October 2, 2024

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris,

We are 99 American physicians, surgeons, nurse practitioners, nurses, and midwives who have volunteered in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. Combined, we spent 254 weeks volunteering in Gaza’s hospitals and clinics. We worked with various nongovernmental organizations and the World Health Organization in hospitals and clinics throughout the Strip. In addition to our medical and surgical expertise, many of us have a public health background, as well as experience working in humanitarian and conflict zones, including Ukraine during the brutal Russian invasion. Some of us are veterans and reservists. We are a multifaith and multiethnic group. None of us support the horrors committed on October 7 by Palestinian armed groups and individuals in Israel. …

…[T]he human toll in Gaza since October is far higher than is understood in the United States. It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 118,908, an astonishing 5.4% of Gaza’s population.

Our government must act immediately to prevent an even worse catastrophe than what has already befallen the people of Gaza and Israel. A ceasefire must be imposed on the warring parties by withholding military support for Israel and supporting an international arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups. We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under American law and International Humanitarian Law. We also believe it is the right thing to do.

Read the letter in its entirety here: https://www.gazahealthcareletters.org/usa-letter-oct-2-2024

Can Connecticut at Least Divest the Drone Company?

by Stanley Heller, Executive Director, Middle East Crisis Committee

Responding to a resident’s request, the State Treasurer’s office revealed that investments of state money in Israel have ballooned to over $113 million. This is a big increase since 2021 when it was $85 million.

The Israeli government, which is widely recognized as guilty of the international crime of apartheid, is committing the crime of genocide in Gaza, and since October of 2023 has killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. For a decade, groups and individuals have been calling on various treasurers and CT governors to divest from Israel. They’ve argued that it’s a shame to make profit from financing oppression. However, these calls have been ignored. To make some headway an effort is underway to get rid of just one Israeli stock.

The Treasury has now over a million dollars invested in Elbit, Israel’s biggest weapons company, which has made drones that are implicated in several massacres. In 2014 its Hermes drone was involved in a notorious incident at a Gaza beach where the drone gunned down four cousins playing soccer. The oldest was 11. Elbit produces cluster munitions, weaponized white phosphorus, and flechette projectiles. The use of these weapons is prohibited under a 2008 international treaty signed by 111 countries.

A petition campaign has been started calling on the state of Connecticut to divest its Elbit stock. This is the link to the Change.org petition: https://tinyurl.com/divest-elbit. The campaign should be of special interest to public worker unions. The overwhelming majority of money in the state treasury is money to be used for pensions for Connecticut teachers, state employees and city employees. Much of it has been deducted from those workers’ salaries. Other money comes from general taxes. None of that money should be used to finance Israeli wars, prisons and walls.

Often one hears the argument that we’re wasting our time with divestment efforts because nothing can be done and that the companies are just too powerful. Yet just recently it was announced that Elbit is permanently closing down its offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after months of picketing.

As Israel Expands Its Lebanon Attacks…

The need to divest from Israel grows as Israel becomes more aggressive in its bombings in Lebanon, which has faced acts of war from the Zionist government for many decades. In September, many memorialized the Sabra and Shatila massacres of mid-September 1982 when over 1400 Palestinians and Lebanese were killed during Israel’s invasion. Since the genocide in Gaza began there’s been limited attacks from Hezbollah forces in Lebanon in solidarity with Palestinians. Israel has responded with jets dropping bombs. Some include white phosphorus, whose use against civilians is regarded as a war crime. There’s been a steady drumbeat by rightist forces in Israel for a full-scale attack on Lebanon. The mass explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies that killed scores and maimed thousands may be the start of that attack.

Connecticut should divest from Israel if only for its constant aggression against Lebanon.
For questions or more information: [email protected].

New Haven Alders Cop Out on Ceasefire Resolution

Five months after a proposed ceasefire resolution was presented to the Board of Alders, and five days after hearing testimony via Zoom that lasted five hours, the Board of Alders voted to “read and file,” and not act on the resolution. Would your alder have supported a ceasefire? We’ll never know, according to the meeting.

Only East Rock Alder Caroline Smith was opposed to dismissing the resolution in this way.

[The New Haven Independent coverage can be read here:
newhavenindependent.org/article/ceasefire_resolution_vote_results]

Interior Dept Staffer Becomes First Jewish Biden Appointee to Publicly Resign Over War in Gaza

by Ellen Knickmeyer, AP, May 15, 2024

An Interior Department staffer on Wednesday became the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign in protest of U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department, accused President Joe Biden of using Jews to justify U.S. policy in the conflict. …She is at least the fifth mid- or senior-level administration staffer to make public their resignation in protest of the Biden administration’s military and diplomatic support of the now seven-month Israeli war against Hamas. She is the second political appointee to do so, after an Education Department official of Palestinian heritage resigned in January. … “I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration,” she wrote. “He [Pres. Biden] is making Jews the face of the American war machine. And that is so deeply wrong.”… “I think the president has to know that there are people in his administration who think this is disastrous,” Call said of the war overall and U.S. support for it. “Not just for Palestinians, for Israelis, for Jews, for Americans, for his election prospects.”

[Entire article available here: apnews.com/article/resignation-gaza-war-biden-israel-a55c20d136f08127d16bce6ced1af82d]

Walk for Gaza May 23-25

by Melinda Tuhus and Allie Perry, Community Activists

A coalition of community activists is organizing a Walk for Gaza in CT over three days, Thursday, May 23 – Saturday, May 25. Inspired by a global movement to walk a distance equivalent to the length of Gaza, CT’s walk, like the hundreds of others, will call attention to the crisis in Gaza, with calls for an immediate, permanent ceasefire and conditioning of US military aid to Israel.

Organizers are planning a route that will cover a distance of around 24 miles in three legs: (1) Day One, Thursday the 23rd will be in the New Haven area and will include stops at the offices of Rep. Rosa DeLauro and both campuses of Yale New Haven Hospital – there to call attention to Israel’s destruction of Al Shifa and the other hospitals in Gaza; (2) Day Two, Friday the 24th in Bridgeport beginning at the Bridgeport Islamic Center for prayers and then various stops, including the office of Rep. Jim Himes and Bridgeport Hospital; (3) Day Three, Saturday the 25th, along CT’s shoreline beginning at the First Church of Guilford and ending at Hammonasset Beach in Madison.

In addition to being visible and vocal about the crisis, organizers are planning to raise money through the walk for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for which first, President Biden, and then Congress, have eliminated funding even as the catastrophe deepens and UNRWA has been the agency that is by far providing the most survival services to the people of Gaza.

Participants are invited to join for any and all portions of this three-day witness. A sag wagon will be available to shuttle walkers who need a break. Look for more information shared on social media about registering to walk or to volunteer to help with the walk.

Contact  for more info: [email protected].

Both Hayes and DeLauro Go Back on Pocan Letter And Vote Billions for Israeli Military

by Stanley Heller, Middle East Crisis Committee

[U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Jahana Hayes were among 56 members of Congress who signed Rep. Mark Pocan’s letter, calling on Pres. Biden to withhold offensive arms transfers to Israel. On April 20, when the bill went to the House of Representatives, they voted in favor of giving Israel $26 billion, of which $4 billion is for Israel’s missile defense system and additional weapon purchases.]

The bill H.R. 8034 throws the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) under the bus. In Sec. 308, none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs may be made available for a contribution, grant, or other payment to UNRWA, notwithstanding any other provision of law.

“Gaza” is mentioned 11 times, demanding reports to see if any money was diverted to Hamas or “other terrorists.”

$9 billion is appropriated to the President for “vulnerable populations and communities.” It could be for Ukraine or Gaza or Israel or whatever. By my reading he doesn’t have to give a nickel to Gaza. It’s all up to President Biden.

Vote ‘Uncommitted’ to Tell the Biden Administration: End the Genocide in Gaza Now!

By Joan Cavanagh, NH Sunday Vigil for Peace and Justice

The New Haven Sunday Vigil for Peace and Justice strongly urges Democratic voters in Connecticut to choose the “uncommitted” option in the April 2nd presidential primary as a signal to the Biden administration to end US financial and military support for the war on the people of Gaza.
The definition of genocide is “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.” The clear intent of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s administration is to erase an entire population through bombing, land invasion, starvation, displacement, and destruction of their infrastructure and livelihoods. More than 30,000 people have been killed since October 2023.

This war would not be possible without U.S. money and arms. Only President Biden can end it. “Connecticut voters, including Jewish voters like me, are sending Biden a clear message in the Democratic Primary. We reject his funding and fueling of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. We are uncommitted on April 2nd to show opposition to his deadly policies,” said Sarah White of Jewish Voice for Peace Action of Connecticut (https://www.wfsb.com/2024/03/14/growing-number-ct-voters-plan-vote-uncommitted-upcoming-primary).

The “uncommitted” or “no preference” strategy has already been used effectively in many other states: about 13% of voters in Michigan (100,000 people) voted this way, as did 30% of Hawaii’s voters.

On Super Tuesday, 9.3% of all Democratic voters across 15 states and one “territory” chose “no preference” on the ballot.

The Biden administration is feeling the pressure. The only way to save future lives is to apply “no preference” wherever possible.

We also strongly urge you to call the White House comment line to tell them why you have voted this way; write to your senators and representatives to inform them and to demand that they act to stop this genocide; and submit letters to the editor or op-ed pieces to discuss your reasons further. “The Republican Party is offering us fascism, and the Democratic Party is offering us genocide. We demand a different choice. That’s why we’re voting for ‘no preference.’” – Merrie Najimy, organizer, Vote No Preference

Massachusetts Coalition (https://www.masslive.com/politics/2024/03/mass-no-preference-vote-won-over-9-in-dem-primary-on-super-tuesday.html).

Actions Throughout CT Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

by Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven

In the past months there have been rallies and demonstrations in many Connecticut towns and cities calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and other demands such as access to humanitarian aid for Palestinians, an end to the occupation, a free Palestine, and no military aid to Israel.

The New Haven Board of Alders has scheduled a hearing for public testimony on the ceasefire resolution. The hearing is set for Wednesday, May 1, at 6 p.m. on Zoom. Sign up TODAY if you want to speak, by emailing: [email protected]. You do not need to submit your testimony at this time. Just write, “My name is ___ and I would like to sign up to testify in support of the ceasefire resolution.”

If you are a New Haven resident, please include that in your email as well. The sooner you sign up, the more likely it is that you’ll have an opportunity to speak.

Many thanks from JVP New Haven!

Over 3,000 Race in IRIS ‘Run for Refugees and All Immigrants’

by Emily Khym, Yale Daily News, Feb. 13, 2024

In the annual Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services’ Run for Refugees on Sunday, Feb. 11, 3,152 people joined in the 5K race. Ahead of the race, pro-Palestine protesters calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza interrupted Rep. Rosa DeLauro, cutting her speech short.

IRIS, a non-profit organization based in New Haven, has hosted the event annually to raise funds for its mission of supporting refugee resettlement and to raise awareness around the issue of refugee resettlement. IRIS raised $168,547, nearly 130 percent more than their fundraising goal. Starting this year, IRIS changed the name of the event from the “Run for Refugees” to include “All Immigrants.” On average, IRIS serves around 1,200 refugees and immigrants in New Haven.

“It doesn’t matter what [government] papers you come with, we welcome you and we are going to try to help you as best as we can,” Executive Director of IRIS Maggie Salem said.

Khuan-Yu Hall photo

Before the race, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker spoke about the vital role immigrants and refugees play in building New Haven’s community. A speech from U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro followed Elicker’s speech.

At the start of DeLauro’s speech, she was interrupted by a group of pro-Palestine protesters standing alongside the finish line. Several of the protesters were holding Palestinian flags and calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, in which — as of Feb. 11 — Israel has killed over 28,100 Palestinians since Hamas’ surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, in which Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel.

“There was a group of people who pulled out loud speakerphones and started protesting about how DeLauro had not acted on the Israel-Hamas War,” Steven Zhang ’25, who was running in the race, told the News. “It lasted for around six to seven minutes … eventually DeLauro ended up not finishing the speech, and the race coordinator signaled the start of the race.”

(Read the article in full here: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/02/13/over-3000-race-in-iris-run-for-refugees-and-all-immigrants)

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