All Life is Connected - We Are Part of a Whole - We Choose Freedom for All
Stop everything-now - for just 4 minutes.
Sit quietly with this just-released joint Jewish and Palestinian video about Gaza.
If you are with loved ones or colleagues-ask them to sit down and watch with you.
And take it in.
For this heartbreaking but necessary video, we asked for help from Jewish Voice for Peace members worldwide, and every hero, every artist, we knew.
And they all said yes. Yes to an end to all bombing. Yes to justice for Palestine. Yes to freedom for all people.
Gloria Steinem said yes, Chuck D and Brian Eno said yes, Angela Davis and Jonathan Demme said yes. Diana Buttu and Tony Kushner said yes. Alison Bechdel and Eve Ensler said yes. Noura Erakat, Maya Wind and Remi Kanazi said yes.
Rigoberta Menchu and Desmond Tutu said yes.
In short, the people in this video represent the human family, standing on the side of freedom- for Palestinians and Israelis alike. And we say No to this unspeakable carnage wrought by one of the world's most powerful militaries dropping explosives on an imprisoned and defenseless population.
Click here: Freedom4Palestine.org
And take in just some of the names and faces and ages of the children, mothers and fathers, and entire families who have been killed in this horrific assault on the captive population of Gaza.
And take in our message, one that truly comes from a place of love for justice: that a lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians will never be possible until we address decades of Palestinian dispossession, statelessness, inequality, exile, occupation and siege.
Gloria Steinem, Chuck D, Jonathan Demme and Other Celebrities, Artists, Activists and Nobel Peace Laureates
Stand Up for Palestinian Rights in New Video
July 28, 2014
CONTACT:
Yasmin Hamidi: yasmin@imeu.org
Cecilie Surasky: cecilie@jewishvoiceforpeace.org
A diverse group of celebrities, artists, and activists that includes American Jews and Palestinians are speaking out for Palestinian human rights in a video released online today. The video is a first of its kind expression of support for Palestinian freedom, equality and justice and features celebrities such as Chuck D, Jonathan Demme, Gloria Steinem, Wallace Shawn, Tony Kushner, Mira Nair, Roger Waters, Brian Eno, and others holding signs with the names and ages of Palestinian civilians recently killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
"The Israeli leaders seem sincere when they say they believe that their actions are appropriate. Apparently, one of `us' is worth many more of `them,'" said actor and playwright Wallace Shawn, who provides the voice-over narration for the video. "American leaders know they are lying when they defend the murder of children in their beds. And we, the public, pay for the bombs, pay for the airplanes, and pretend not to notice what's going on."
As Israel continues its assault against the occupied, besieged, and blockaded Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since July 7, most of them civilians, a growing number of global citizens of conscience feel compelled to speak out against Israel's disproportionate attack on the Palestinian people. In addition to those featured in this video, a growing number of celebrities have been speaking out via social media about the horrors we are witnessing in Gaza, as reported recently by BuzzFeed and The Hollywood Reporter.
"We wanted to provide a platform for the growing list of prominent individuals who are outraged by Israel's brutal violence against Gaza's civilian population," said Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization that co-produced the video. "Our message is that securing freedom and justice for Palestinians is the only pathway to a lasting peace."
"My family was forced to flee our beloved Jerusalem in 1948 and every day since then, we have longed for freedom," said Nina Saah, an 83-year-old Nakba survivor featured in the video. "What is happening in Gaza breaks my heart all over again. And yet I am so moved by all those who have come together in this video and the outpouring of support I am seeing for Palestinians. It gives me hope that the people of the world will be the ones to change our situation and that freedom and justice will come."
"This is a scream on paper. This is a wail," said playwright Eve Ensler, one of the artists featured in the video. "There are no more words. Only this moment where we rise against the illegal and deathly occupation of Palestine, against mass slaughter of the defenseless, against the complicit silence of the international community, against the military might and arrogance of the Israeli and the U.S. governments who choose annihilation over justice and love."
A full list of participants can be found here.
To request an interview with video producers or participants, or for more information, please contact Yasmin Hamidi at yasmin@imeu.org or Cecilie Surasky at cecilie@jewishvoiceforpeace.org.
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national grassroots organization dedicated to promoting a US foreign policy in the Middle East based on peace, democracy, human rights and respect for international law. JVP has over 160,000 online supporters, 40 chapters across the U.S., a Rabbinical Cabinet, a Youth Wing, and an Advisory Board composed of some of the country's best known Jewish thinkers and artists.
To get involved, contact JVP at info@jvp.org or organizing@jvp.org
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
Nobel Peace Laureate, Argentine human rights activists, community organizer, painter and sculptor. Co-founded Servicio Paz y Justicia(Service, Peace and Justice Foundation) in 1974 to denounce atrocities committed by the military in Argentina.
Alison Bechdel
Author, Cartoonist. Creator of Dykes to Watch Out For, NY Times and Time Magazine called her autobiographical book Fun Home one of the best books published in 2006. Creator of The Bechdel Test.
Aimee Mullens
Athlete, actress, fashion model, sports pioneer, Paralymics finalist. First amputee in history to compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Served as the President of the Women's Sports Foundation from 2007 to 2009, was named a TED "all-Star" in 2014.
Anand Patwardhan
Indian documentary filmmaker, activist.Bombay: Our City, Father Son and the Holy War, and War and Peace were initially censored by the Indian government for their portrayal of social justice issues and only released after court battles.
André Gregory
American Jewish Actor, Director, Writer (My Dinner with Andre)
Angela Davis
Activist, Scholar, Author
Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Activist, author, union organizer. Past president of TransAfrica Forum, and co-author of Solidarity Divided
Brian Eno
Producer, musician, songwriter, and artist.
Known for his experimental music styles and ambient music as a solo artist and in collaboration with famed musical artists such as David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, Paul Simon among others.
Bryonn Bain
Activist, poet, author, actor and professor.
Cherien Dabis
Director, producer, and screenwriter. A Palestinian American, her films Amreeka and Make A Wish on issues connected to being a Palestinian American have won numerous film festival awards. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Director to Watch in 2009.
Darnell L. Moore
Anti-racist, feminist scholar and activist. His essays, social commentary, poetry, and interviews have appeared in various national and international media venues, including the Feminist Wire, Ebony magazine, and The Huffington Post. Co-chair of the groundbreaking Queer Newark Oral History Project--an archival project that seeks to chronicle the multifaceted lives of LGBTQ Newarkers and their allies.
Deborah Eisenberg
American short-story writer, actor and teacher. Author of Transactions in a Foreign Currency (1986), Under the 82nd Airborne (1992), All Around Atlantis (1997), and Twilight of the Superheroes (2006) Recipient Guggenheim, MacArthur Fellowship
Detlef Schrempf
Basketball player, played in the NBA for sixteen seasons including stints with the Indiana Pacers, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Portland Trail Blazers. He has appeared as himself in several episodes of the television sitcom Parks and Recreation.
Desmond Tutu
Nobel Peace Laureate, South African social rights activists, First Black Archbishop of Cape Town. Key leader in the demise of South Africa's apartheid and a proponent for human rights for oppressed people throughout the world.
Diana Buttu
Human rights attorney, negotiations advisor, instructor at Stanford and Harvard Universities
Political analyst at the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Formerly a spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization, participated in the peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine in 2000.
dream hampton
Cultural critic and filmmaker.
Associate Producer of VH1's Emmy-award winning film about the rapper, Christopher Wallace - "Behind the Music: The Notorious B.I.G." and an editor and contributor to a variety of magazines featuring Black music artists and issues.
Emily Jacir
Artist, filmmaker, film curator, professor
A Palestinian multi-media artist whose works have been exhibited around the world, many of her award-winning pieces focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Eve Ensler
Playwright, Performer
The Vagina Monologues; Tony Award, Obie Award; Guggenheim Fellowship
Frank Barat
Coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, created in 2009 to expose and examine Israel's impunity in regards to its treatment of the Palestinian People. Edited 'Gaza in Crisis' with Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, and 'Corporate Complicity in Israel's Occupation' with Asa Winstanley.
Gina Breedlove
African American solo artist, and stage actress.
Gloria Steinem
Feminist, journalist, editor, and activist.
2013 winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Huweida Arraf
Attorney and human rights activist.
A Palestinian American who co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led organization focused on assisting the Palestinian side of the Israel-Palestine conflict using nonviolent direct action and protests to raise awareness and battle injustice.
Joanne Sandler
Director for Programs at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Jody Williams
Nobel Peace Laureate, Founding Coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Jonathan Demme
American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
Directed The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director, Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense.
Kate Clinton
Author, comedienne, columnist
Recipient of numerous awards from organizations including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Katherine Franke
Professor, Recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School.
Kathryn Grody, actress and writer, and son Isaac Grody-Patinkin and family.
Ken Loach
UK film and television director, author, and political activist.
He was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1977, but turned it down.
Lauren Rumble
UNICEF Chief of Child Protection
Lynn Nottage
Playwright, professor, author
Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009 for Ruined
Mahmoud Jrere
Palestinian Hip Hop Artist, Co-Founder of the Palestinian Hip Hop group, DAM
Michael Ratner
President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit human rights litigation organization based in New York City
Mira Nair
Film director, actress, producer, and professor.
Academy Award nominated director of Salaam Bombay and Vanity Fair.
Najla Said
Author, actor, playwright and activist.
Wrote Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family. She is the daughter of Edward Said.
Naomi Klein
Canadian author and activist
Author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo
Noah T. Winer
Co-founder, MoveOn.org
Noura Erakat
Palestinian American human rights attorney, activist, adjunct professor
Co-editor of Jadaliyya, an ezine generated by the Arab Studies Institute in Washington, DC and Beirut, Lebanon.
Pamela Shifman
Executive Director of the NoVo Foundation
Recipient of the 2011 Lucretia Mott Award from Women's Way; named one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by Women's e-News.
Pratibha Parmar
Director, producer and writer
Warrior Marks and co-authored the book Warrior Marks with Alice Walker.
Awarded the Visionary Award by the One in Ten Film Festival and the San Francisco Frameline Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award
Raj Patel
Economist, journalist, activist and writer
Author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System and The Value of Nothing.
Rami Kashou
Fashion designer, finalist in Bravo's "Project Runway" series.
Israeli born and raised in Ramallah, he studied fashion design at Brooks College in Long Beach, California.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace. Named one of the Forward 50, the Jewish Daily Forward's list of 50 most influential Jewish Americans.
Remi Kanazi
Performance poet, human rights activist, and author
Palestinian American based in New York, he is the editor of Poets for Palestine and the author of Poetic Injustice: Writings on Resistance and Palestine.
Rigoberta Menchu Tum
Nobel Peace Laureate, activist, politician, author, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
Committed to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous people during and after the Guatemalan Civil War ((1960-1996) and promoting indigenous rights in Guatemala.
Robyn Spencer
History Professor, Author, and Researcher regarding Black liberation politics
Co-author of Telling Freedom Stories from the Inside Out: Internal Politics and Movement Cultures in SNCC and the Black Panther Party.
Roger Waters
Musician, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, activist
Co-founder of the rock ban Pink Floyd
Sam Jones
Shailja Patel
Kenyan poet, playwright, theatre artist and political activist based in Nairobi and California.
Shan Cretin
General Secretary (executive head) of the American Friends Service Committee
Suhel Nafar
Arab-Israeli Rap artist
Member of the first Palestinian-Arab or Arab Israeli rap group, DAM
Tamer Nafar
Arab-Israeli Rap artist
Member of the first Palestinian-Arab or Arab Israeli rap group, DAM
Tony Kushner
Playwright, Screenwriter
Pulitzer Prize for Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia; Caroline or Change; Tony, Emmy, Drama Desk Award winner; Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee; Co-screenwriter of Munich, screenwriter of Lincoln
Udi Aloni
Israeli American filmmaker, writer and visual artist
Films Local Angel (2002) and Forgiveness (2006).Author of What Does a Jew Want? And On Binationalism and Other Specters
Wallace Shawn
Jewish American actor, playwright, and essayist
Film roles include My Dinner with Andre (1981), The Princess Bride (1987). Wrote The Designated Mourner, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and Grasses of a Thousand Colors
Urvashi Vaid
Community organizer, activist, author, and attorney
Former Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and in 2009 was named one of the 50 most influential LGBT people in the United States by Out magazine
Zainab Salbi
Founder and former CEO of Women for Women International which supports women survivors of war. Author of Between Two Worlds, The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope, and If You Knew Me You Would Care.