Friends,
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s far-right government is not only threatening democratic rights for Israelis, but also trampling the freedoms of Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.
They made that callously clear this month.
On May 7, the government sent soldiers and bulldozers to demolish a Palestinian elementary school in the West Bank. It followed advocacy from Regavim, a pro-annexation settlement group co-founded by Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who now controls civilian affairs in the West Bank.
With a degree of cruelty that defies belief, Regavim then boasted about their “victory” on social media:
Stop School Demolitions: Sign the Petition
Read and sign our petition to President Biden >>
Friends – I don’t know about you, but my vision for Israel’s future as a proud, just, Jewish homeland does not include demolishing children’s schools to make way for settlements and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The school, in the village of Jubbet Adh Dhib, was providing a path to a better future for dozens of local children aged six to ten. The European Union helped fund construction six years ago, saving many families a one-hour walk to the nearest alternative.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups remain worried for over 50 other schools at risk of demolition. So far this year, Netanyahu’s government has authorized over 350 demolitions displacing almost 600 people – half of them children – all to keep land clear for settlement expansion and potential annexation.
As Jewish Americans, we must call out these destructive policies. We must stand up for our Jewish, democratic values, and for a better future for both peoples. Please add your name to our petition to President Biden calling for action to stop demolitions of Palestinian schools.
From their anti-democratic judicial reforms to restricting religious pluralism within Israel to this cruel quest to stop Palestinian families building a future for themselves, these right-wing efforts to build an illiberal, anti-democratic Israel run counter to everything my parents and grandparents taught me about our Jewish values and vision for the Jewish homeland.
Like so many in our community, I’m deeply concerned where this is taking us.
I’m deeply concerned about the many, many families impacted by this demolition and others. How can anyone hope to build a better future for their children when thousands of homes, schools, clinics, farms and businesses exist under the looming shadow of occupation bulldozers?
Frankly, I’m also concerned that the United States government isn’t doing as much as it could to push back against Netanyahu’s anti-democratic agenda, both within the Green Line and beyond it. We must speak strongly and clearly, and we must show our support for the Israeli and Palestinian groups working to defend peace, equality and hopes for a better future.
Friends – Please sign our petition today calling on President Biden to take action, and please consider a contribution toward our work.
Yours,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
