Tag: JVPNH

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].

Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children

Shelly Altman, Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven

Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven (JVPNH) and Tree of Life Educational Fund (TOLEF) are reaching out to organizations to endorse our resolution in support of the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act. If you are affiliated with an organization, please see the resolution at www.tolef.org/pal-children, and get your organization to sign on. This can be done online.

JVPNH and TOLEF have been leading an effort to get our five CT congresspeople to co-sponsor the bill, which was introduced in the previous congressional session as bill HR.4391 by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN). It has 30 co-sponsors, including six from New England. We had in-person meetings with each of our congresspeople. Each expressed interest, but none signed on as co-sponsors.
Rep. McCollum is very likely to re-introduce the bill in the new Congress, and we are renewing our effort to get our CT delegation to sign on. At this point, we are reaching out to organizations to show support by endorsing the resolution, which calls on our CT delegation to sign on to the bill.

Please see the resolution at http://www.tolef.org/pal-children, and get your organization to join with the many others which have already signed on.

Ben Ehrenreich to Speak in New Haven Nov. 11

by Shelly Altman, Jewish Voice for Peace

Ehrenreich

Ehrenreich

Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven (JVPNH) is partnering with Shalom UCC to present a book talk by Ben Ehrenreich on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 at the First Presbyterian Church in New Haven, 704 Whitney Ave. Ben is the author of the recently published book, The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine. His book was reviewed in the New York Times this past July. The review is available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/books/review/ben-ehrenreich-the-way-to-the-spring-palestine.html.

Over the past three years, Ben Ehrenreich has been traveling to and living in the West Bank, staying with Palestinian families in its largest cities and its smallest villages, including Nabi Saleh, Hebron, and Umm al-Kheir. Along the way he has written major stories for American outlets, including a remarkable New York Times Magazine cover story, “Is This Where the Third Intifada Will Start?”.

The book offers a first person view of life in the West Bank: the daily challenges, pain and triumphs of resistance while living under oppressive military occupation. Reviewer Andy Shatz wrote: “As heart-breaking as it is, The Way to the Spring is also a strangely joyful book, because Ehrenreich grasps the essence of the Palestinian struggle. It’s not Islam, nor even nationalism, but the stubborn refusal of injustice, the restless search for ‘how it would feel to be free.’”

Reach JVP New Haven on the web: http://www.jvpnh.org, by email: [email protected], or facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jvpnewhaven, or twitter: @jvpnewhaven.