|
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
0 Comments
Concerned community members have been made aware of a facility program that turns people over to ICE in Old Louisville and will hold a press conference there on Monday, June 16 at 10am. The location is 933 South Third Street.
The Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) (website) where people who are involved in immigration programs have routinely come to check in, is now turning some people in to ICE. “The idea that right here in the midst of us, people are being abducted, and torn away from their families, is chilling to me.” said David Horvath, a leader in Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice (LSURJ) which was alerted to the ISAP role. “This place used to be a regular stop for immigrants to check in and now it is extremely dangerous to come here..it is entrapment." "ICE attacking individuals who have engaged with our system in good faith is a moral crime. ISAP must be ended, and ICE must be abolished." Said Galen ZS of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “People across Louisville are coming together to show up for our immigrant neighbors.” said Carla F Wallace, of LSURJ. “We cannot let them come for any of us, without coming through all of us.” LSURJ discovered what ISAP is doing in the course of its Louisville Community Defense Network (LCDN) work. LCDN trains community members in knowing legal rights, nonviolent direct action, and responding to its 24 hour hotline to news of attacks on vulnerable communities by ICE and other governmental agencies. # # # # On Behalf of the Louisville Ceasefire Coalition
Fifteen people were arrested on the morning of Friday, February 2 at Raytheon/RTX and BAE Systems in Louisville, including several members of the Louisville Ceasefire Coalition. We were arrested in three locations blocking access and egress points to Raytheon/RTX and BAE Systems in South Louisville, which are companies that manufacture weapons sold and transferred to the Israeli government and that are used for the destruction and killings in Gaza and the West Bank. The Louisville Ceasefire Coalition was formed after October 7, 2023, to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israeli occupation. In addition to demanding a permanent ceasefire, our protest also emphasizes that continued and growing US military aid to Israel, and the profiteering of these companies, directly contributes to the genocide of the Palestinian people. We support what the International Court of Justice has recently determined: that the Israeli government is plausibly engaged in a genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. We chose to protest at Raytheon/RTX and BAE Systems because they are arms manufacturers in our own backyard. And these companies are both fueling and profiting from Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. These companies have provided weapons that have directly caused the deaths of over 27,000 people, 40% of whom are children. Our intent in this action was to raise awareness of U.S. complicity in war crimes through the unlimited supply of weapons to Israel being used against a civilian population. Raytheon/RTX and BAE Systems are the world's second and seventh largest military companies, respectively, and manufacture missiles, bombs, components for fighter jets, naval guns, and other weapon systems used by the Israeli military against Palestinians. These technologies are also integrated into Israel's main weapon systems, including fighter jets, military drones, and warships. These weapons are often gifted to Israel through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Financing program. US military funding to Israel topped $3.8 billion in 2023, as part of a record $38 billion deal over 10 years signed under former US President Barack Obama in 2016. In the past 75 years the US has supported Israel with a total of $124 billion in the form of military and defense aid. Congress is also currently debating a $14.1 billion additional US military aid to Israel. Between 50% and 60% of buildings in Gaza have been demolished and the bombardment has displaced some 85 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents. Israel has cut off food, water, fuel, and medical supplies getting into Gaza and continually bomb areas they have designated as “safe zones.” Half of the population are at risk of starvation and 90 percent of Gazans regularly go without food for an entire day or longer. And it cannot be stressed enough: these companies are making weapons right here in our community and it impacts all of us. One of those arrested, Carla Wallace, emphasizes that, “We have needs here at home for affordable housing, jobs, healthcare and education. Funds used for weapons to kill people in Gaza could be used to care for people here in Kentucky and elsewhere.”  Photo ActiveStills Archives: Gaza under attack, Khan Yunis, south Gaza Strip. Photographer: Mohammed Zaanoun 19 Nov 2023 On Friday, December 1, when Israel resumed its bombing campaign in Gaza, Deanna Rushing began a hunger strike in protest and as part of the worldwide call for a permanent cease fire, negotiations, and humanitarian aid. “When I learned the bombing had begun again, I had to take more drastic action,” states Rushing. “I made the decision to begin a hunger strike. I am in day 4 of not eating. It is imperative to demand an end to the horrific genocide being perpetrated with the financial and leadership directives my government makes in the name of my country, in my name. My state, Kentucky, contributes $9 million dollars per year, largely in military weapons, in support of the occupation that has led to the suffering.” “We’ve been protesting for weeks and along with the majority of our country’s people and the people of the world we have been calling for an end to this genocide, but it has not stopped,” said Rushing “It must stop.” Rushing is urging more members of the Louisville community to speak up and make a deeper commitment to ending the US-backed Israeli attack that has cost the lives of over 16,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children. This includes over 800 deaths since the bombing resumed. She is asking people to contact their US representative for the first time, or again, if they have already called. She is asking people from Louisville to write to Joe Biden asking him to call for a permanent cease fire. Rushing is part of the Louisville-based Coalition for a Cease Fire, and a member of Louisville Showing up for Racial Justice (LSURJ). She has been part of the protests for a cease fire since the US-supported assault on Gaza began. To follow Deanna in this journey or to contact her, see her blog here.
The Statue of John Castleman is a symbol of white supremacy and has no place in any community committed to equity and racial justice. Disproportionately impacting Louisville’s Black community, where the legacy of slavery continues to impact economic outcomes, housing, over policing, incarceration and a lower life expectancy——statues that salute the Confederacy are part of slavery’s continuing crimes.
Today's state Supreme Court decision pointing to process errors leading to the removal of the John Castleman statue from the Cherokee Triangle neighborhood does not change the position of Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice. We agree with the findings of the Public Art and Movements Advisory Committee, which provided the research and foundation for the Fischer administration's decision to remove the statue. We urge Mayor Craig Greenberg and our entire community to be steadfast in the need to have public art reflect who we want to be as a community, and not retain the symbols of oppression in our past. The removal does not erase history but puts it into context. Specifically, the Castleman statues was installed at a time when hundreds of monuments celebrating Confederate generals and politicians were being erected -- as deliberate symbols intended to strengthen the illusion of nobility of the South's Lost Cause, to visibly bolster Jim Crow laws to prevent integration and true reconstruction. John Castleman was a convicted terrorist and leader of Confederate raiders planning to attack a prison near Chicago. He was a member of the slave-holding elite. He laid the basis for the segregation of Louisville’s parks. He should not have been pardoned and celebrated, then or now, as some kind of kindly and reformed Confederate. # # # # |
RSS Feed
Resources |
CDN Quick Links |
|