[ ]J Street [ ]
Friends,

We don't yet have your name on our petition against the Netanyahu
government's attempt to ban bereaved Palestinian families from Monday's
Joint Memorial Ceremony.

We'd deeply appreciate [ [link removed] ]your signature before Sunday's court hearing.

Every year, the Israeli far-right tries to disrupt this joint
Israeli-Palestinian memorial service. Every year, they try to stop
bereaved families from uniting in grief, sharing their stories, and
calling for an end to violence.

And every time, their efforts never fail to upset me.

I've been there as they've yelled abuse over the fence. I've heard them
call us “traitors” “nazis” and “kapos” for having the temerity to
recognize that this conflict has never discriminated between Israelis and
Palestinians when it comes to tearing families apart and inflicting pain,
fear and injustice on us all.

Friends, if you have 30 seconds, please take a moment to add your
name to the petition. [ [link removed] ]Read, sign and share the petition here >>

[ [link removed] ]Click to read and sign the petition

I know our friends at Parents Circle – Families Forum and Combatants for
Peace, who are organizing the event, deeply appreciate the support as they
gear up to challenge this decision in court on Sunday.

Yours,

Adina Vogel-Ayalon, J Street Chief of Staff

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Nadav Tamir, J Street

They’re some of the bravest Israelis and Palestinians I’ve ever met, and
that makes them a target for the far-right.

They are the bereaved family members of Israelis and Palestinians killed
by violence, terror and conflict. Every year, their group -- Parents
Circle – Families Forum -- organizes one of the largest and most profound
Memorial Day ceremonies in Israel, broadcast around the world. J Street is
a co-sponsor, as we have been many times in the past.

I’m a former IDF Officer myself, and the joint ceremony is one of the most
moving events I’ve ever experienced. Thousands join to share anguish,
mourn our losses, and lay the foundation for a future of respect, dignity
and equality for all.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not theoretical for us. We remember
lost children, siblings, parents and friends. We commit to doing all we
can to end a deadly cycle that has stolen far too many loved ones far too
soon.

But for the Israeli far-right -- driven by an eye-for-an-eye worldview --
such solidarity, equality and respect is an intolerable abomination.
Extremists yell abuse over the fence, calling participants “traitors” and
“kapos” and intimidating them at the gates.

Now -- ahead of Monday’s ceremony -- the Netanyahu government has issued a
blanket ban denying entry permits to Palestinian families seeking to enter
Israel to join the event. They claim it’s due to security, yet the Supreme
Court has twice overturned previous attempts by Netanyahu to enforce a
similar ban.

[ [link removed] ]Friends -- Will you support the ceremony by adding your name
to our petition?

[ [link removed] ]Click to read and sign the petition

It’s difficult to fathom what might drive political leaders to inflict
such cynical cruelty on Palestinian and Israeli families who have already
suffered so much. Families who seek to honor those they have lost to a
cycle of violence and injustice by committing themselves to ending it.

In a Supreme Court ruling from 2019 -- which the Israeli government now
seems determined to ignore -- Justices held that the ban on Palestinian
attendance by Netanyahu (then both Prime Minister and Defense Minister)
was “unreasonable” and “disproportionate.”

“Here lies the core of freedom of expression, of personal autonomy, which
gives every person the opportunity to write and shape his life story in
his own way,” Justice Yitzhak Amit wrote.

“In the life story of every bereaved family there is sorrow, pain and
longing. The Minister of Defense must not interfere in the way in which a
family wishes to express its own bereavement and sorrow for the untimely
passing of a loved one,” his decision read.

While not everyone might choose to attend a joint memorial service, I
strongly believe that such acts of solidarity, empathy and peace-building
should be encouraged, not deterred. For me, there is no more profound
expression of our Jewish values and our belief that a better future for
both Israelis and Palestinians is possible.

If you agree, please join me and add your name to our petition. [ [link removed] ]Read,
sign and share the petition here >>

Thank you, sincerely, for your support.

Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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