Rabbis for Palestinian Rights Counter ‘Warmongering’ AIPAC in DC

"We refuse to be bystanders as the Israeli government wages a genocidal campaign in our name," one rabbi said.

Olivia Rosane Common Dreams
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Rabbis and rabbinical students affiliated with JVP Action meet with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) on March 12, 2024., (Photo: JVP Action)

As lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, went to the nation's capital on Tuesday to push for more money for Israel as it continues its lethal onslaught in Gaza, 17 rabbis and rabbinical students showed up on the hill with a counter-proposal: negotiate a permanent cease-fire and stop unconditionally funding and arming the Israeli military as it commits war crimes.

The rabbis and rabbinical students, who were affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action, wore black shirts reading "Rabbis for Palestinian Rights" and met with members of Congress including Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).

"AIPAC is warmongering and pro-apartheid," Rabbi May Ye with JVP Action, who is also a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, said in a statement. "They do not represent Jewish people or the Jewish tradition."

"If you want to know one large reason why more members of Congress still aren't calling for a cease-fire—even though a cease-fire is overwhelmingly popular among their constituents—look no further than groups like AIPAC."

"We are rabbis representing hundreds of thousands of Jews affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace Action imploring our leaders to end their complicity in the Israeli military's genocidal campaign in the name of tzedek (justice) and real safety for all people," Ye added.

Also on Tuesday, JVP Action members occupied the office of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), one of the lawmakers who receives the most money from AIPAC.

The mobilizations come at a perilous moment in Israel's invasion of Gaza, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has already deemed a plausible genocide. Israel's offensive, which has already killed more than 31,000 Gazans, could escalate further as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to invade the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are now sheltering following Israeli orders to evacuate the north.

"Our Jewish communities are rising up to say 'never again is now,'" said Rabbi Leora Abelson with JVP Action and member of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council. "We refuse to be bystanders as the Israeli government wages a genocidal campaign in our name.

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"We need our politicians to listen to Americans, including the hundreds of thousands of Jewish Americans who are urgently calling for a cease-fire," Abelson added.

According to a recent poll, 67% of all U.S. voters back a cease-fire, as do 77% of Democratic voters. Yet only around 15% of all members of Congress have called for a cease-fire.

"If you want to know one large reason why more members of Congress still aren't calling for a cease-fire—even though a cease-fire is overwhelmingly popular among their constituents—look no further than groups like AIPAC," Beth Miller, director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, said in a statement. "AIPAC and other pro-genocide lobby groups use massive amounts of money and racist bullying to ensure congressional complicity in Israel's unfolding genocide of Palestinians."

Tuesday's counter-lobbying comes amid an increased mobilization against AIPAC by anti-war and progressive groups. More than 20 groups, including JVP Action, launched Reject AIPAC on Monday to encourage lawmakers to decline endorsements and donations from the group. Members of the coalition point out that AIPAC takes significant donations from right-wing billionaires and backs candidates that take a far-right stance in U.S. domestic politics as well, as it endorsed more than 100 legislators who voted to decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election. At the same time, it has pledged more than $100 million to unseat lawmakers who have called for a cease-fire, who are also some of Congress' most progressive members, and also to target moderate Democrats who it deems insufficiently supportive of Israel.

The rabbis also met with many of the lawmakers who have called for a cease-fire, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Summer Lee (D-Pa.)

"Our Jewish tradition calls upon us to stand up for justice and for peace. Saving a soul, 'pikuach nefesh,' is the most holy commandment in all of Judaism," Rabbi Brant Rosen, a member of JVP Action, a co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, and Rabbi at Tzedek Chicago, said in a statement. "We are here asking our representatives to call for a lasting cease-fire, to save lives in Gaza now, and thanking the representatives and senators who are already taking this stance."

Olivia Rosane is a staff writer for Common Dreams.