Bombing of Iran- Response to Jewish Federation of Louisville

On June 24, the Jewish Federation of Louisville released a public statement endorsing the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. They framed it as a contribution to Jewish safety and global security.
We find that statement deeply alarming—and morally indefensible.
It was released in the midst of a U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, starved, and displaced. It was issued without any acknowledgment of civilian risk in Iran, or of the long history of Jewish life in Iran that such military actions endanger. And it claimed to speak in the name of Jewish safety—while reinforcing the false and dangerous idea that Jewish survival depends on war.
This kind of language puts people at risk.
It places Jewish identity in alignment with militarism at a time when state violence is being challenged around the world. It marginalizes the many Jewish people in Louisville and beyond who oppose war and occupation. And it causes real harm to Iranian Jews, who already face state pressure within Iran and anti-Iranian racism in the United States—and now see their lives, families, and history ignored by an institution that claims to represent Jewish interests.
We reject this framing.
We do not believe Jewish safety requires the bombing of another country. We do not believe war can be made in anyone’s name without consequence. We do not believe silence in the face of genocide is ever neutral.
We are members of the Louisville Ceasefire Coalition—including both Jewish and non-Jewish members. We stand with Jewish Louisvillians for Peace whose public response gives voice to profound values embedded in Jewish tradition: "moral courage, refusal to dehumanize others, the ‘dignity of all people,’ and a deep belief in justice without exception.” See their statement in comments.
We will not be silent in the face of war. And we will not allow statements like the Federation’s to go unchallenged.
We oppose the U.S. bombing of Iran.
We oppose the genocide in Gaza.
We oppose the use of any people’s suffering to justify the suffering of others.
To all those in our communities—Jewish, Iranian, Palestinian, Arab, and SWANA—who are grieving, resisting, and demanding a future beyond war: we are with you.
We know these communities are not separate. Many of us live at the intersections—as Iranian Jews, as Palestinian Jews, as people whose histories defy the borders and binaries imposed by empire.
We speak out because our struggles are linked, and because our safety depends on standing with each other, not in opposition to each other.
— Louisville Ceasefire Coalition