Love this so much! Especially necessary in Rochester where Jewish-Muslim alliances exist exclusively in the form of interfaith dialogue that is *completely* depoliticized and circumscribes/controls serious engagement on human rights rather than empower both communities. Would love to create fresh and politically woke/active coalitions that can work together, honestly and openly, on all social justice issues, not just those that don’t disturb the status quo on Palestine/Israel.
Ben Lorber and Taher Herzallah: A Muslim-Jewish alliance makes historical sense; Jews and Muslims lived together in relative harmony across the Middle East and parts of Europe for millennia, while white Christian Europe subjected our communities, in different ways, to vicious persecution. We are confident that principled, accountable partnerships between Muslims and Jews can and must be built as we forge a path forward in this frightening time.
But now is not the time to compromise our values out of fear. Support for Palestinian rights is moving mainstream, and the Israel advocacy movement is losing its ability to police discourse in the US.
[…] We urge American Muslim groups not to partner with organisations like the ADL and the AJC, so long as they continue to limit discourse on Israel/Palestine and to oppose the demands of Palestinians for justice and freedom.
We call on these, and many other American Jewish groups, to end work to suppress the movement for Palestinian rights in the US, renounce their anti-Muslim history and join the movement for a truly just peace in Israel/Palestine.
Then, and only then, can relationships of mutual respect and cooperation come to fruition and have the capacity, structure and commitment to work towards transformative change here in the US and globally. More here.