[ ]J Street [ ]
Dear Friend,

This past Friday, which seems like an eternity ago, J Street released the
below statement expressing solidarity with communities of color who are
grieving, and offering our allyship.

Because Friday was a Jewish holiday, we did not share our sentiments by
email -- but wanted to do so today, along with a call to support leading
anti-racist organizations.

My best to all at this difficult time,

Jeremy Ben-Ami

 

J Street Stands Against Racist Violence, in Support of Racial Justice

J Street stands in solidarity with communities of color all across the
nation today as they express continued shock, grief and anger at the
killing of George Floyd.

The killing of Mr. Floyd is but the latest in a horrific and seemingly
never-ending string of assaults on the lives of African-Americans and
other people of color. We join all who are calling for arrests, criminal
charges and justice related to Mr. Floyd’s death.

Most importantly, we speak as an organization whose identity is primarily,
though not exclusively, Jewish and whose work is grounded in the values
upon which our community was raised and a core belief in the fundamental
equality, worth and dignity of every human being. We understand all too
deeply the pain of centuries of antisemitism, hatred and tragedy. We
relate to the different yet all-too-familiar experience of communities of
color who, in this country, have experienced centuries of bigotry,
violence and oppression. Many members of the American Jewish community are
people of color who in this moment are confronted with an onslaught of
rising and often interrelated anti-Jewish and anti-black hatred.

As Jews, we can recognize a society pervaded by fundamental and structural
racism. It has been clearly demonstrated in the coronavirus pandemic,
whose victims are disproportionately black, brown and Native American. It
is demonstrated every day in the way American citizens and noncitizens
living among us are discriminated against in education, employment and
day-to-day interactions based on the color of their skin or the accent of
their speech.

As an organization dedicated to peace, justice, equality and democracy, we
take it as a sacred obligation to stand in partnership with communities of
color under attack in this country, just as they stand against the scourge
of antisemitism.

Our country is literally dying and bleeding today. Tragically, our
president, rather than looking to heal the nation’s wounds and close its
gaping divides, revels in stoking the flames of hate and throwing fuel on
the fires of racism and division.

We must do everything within our power to defeat President Trump this
November. But it would be naive to imagine that a single election could
undo centuries of inequity or significantly alter America’s deeply
entrenched system of structural racism.

In this moment and in every moment, we must recognize our personal,
communal and societal complicity in the persistence of racism, injustice
and inequality in our country. We must recommit, in light of all that is
happening around us, to the fight against evils that have plagued the
United States since its founding.

May the memories of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so
many others be an inspiration to us all to address the deep wounds in our
society and to work toward a future in which, as Martin Luther King put
it, “this nation will one day rise up and live out the true meaning of its
creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal.’”

Please consider a donation to one of these organization actively working
to fight racism:

* [ [link removed] ]Color of Change
* [ [link removed] ]Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
* [ [link removed] ]Southern Poverty Law Center


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© 2020 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace 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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