On Sunday, November 17, several groups protested a conference supporting the Israeli settler movement, featuring leaders of the Shomron Regional Council, the Zionist Organization of America, a U.S. congressional representative, and others. They met to discuss “why Judea and Samaria [which is the Israeli-occupied West Bank] must be the main focus of today’s Israel advocacy.”
All Israeli settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories violate international law, according to major human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the International Court of Justice, and governments worldwide. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying country from moving its citizens into the occupied area as residents.
The protest was sponsored by Jews Say No! and Jewish Voice for Peace NY and several endorsing groups— Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, Brooklyn For Peace, NYC Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, John Jay Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Rutgers Newark SJP, Brooklyn SJP, Hunter SJP, Rutgers New Brunswick SJP, CUNY Law SJP, New Yorkers Against the Cornell-Technion Partnership
In the Press:
Mondoweiss: Yesterday in New York there was a gathering of settlers and their supporters at a synagogue on the Upper West Side…..Thankfully, there was a robust demonstration against the settlers conference outside, and many of the speakers inside were jarred by the protest, and referred to it angrily.
Jerusalem Post: A small group of protesters representing left-wing Jewish groups marched silently in single file outside the synagogue during the conference, holding signs against Israel’s presence in the West Bank. The signs bore such slogans as “Jews say no to occupation,” “Jews say justice for the Palestinian people” and “Jews say not in our name.”
Jews Say No: Not In Our Name! 