On Passover, hundreds of Seattleites — from two months to 79 years old — gathered in downtown Seattle to call for a ceasefire and an end to U.S. funds backing the Israeli military. A mural 30 feet in diameter reading “No Funds for Genocide” was painted on Second Avenue in front of the Federal Building, demanding for Sen. Murray to call for a permanent ceasefire. During the protest, Sen. Murray voted yes on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which sends an additional $17 billion in military funding and weapons to Israel. This vote was made despite the fact that the majority of Americans are calling for a ceasefire, with hundreds of Murray’s Seattle constituents emailing and calling her office for months demanding an end to military aid to Israel.
Passover is the holiday of liberation when Jewish people retell the story of the ancient Israelites’ journey from enslavement in Egypt to freedom. We know our liberation is tied to the liberation of all human beings. This year, all over the country, Jewish Americans holding Passovers in the streets and liberation seders in their homes are calling for an end to the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.
The state of Israel was created through mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians (known as the Nakba), which violently expelled over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes throughout the 1940s. Since its founding in 1948, the state of Israel has received over $300 billion in military aid from the U.S., despite committing multiple human rights violations over the past 75 years and currently enacting “plausible genocide” in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
Israel has killed over 34,000 Palestinians in the past six months and is now starving children to death. Due to the Israeli military intentionally targeting and killing over 100 Palestinian journalists in the last six months and refusing to let international journalists enter Gaza, the death tolls are likely much higher than reported. The Israeli military has bombed the entirety of Gaza, displacing millions, destroying Gaza’s hospital system and blocking the entrance of humanitarian aid, thus ensuring mass starvation.
We must end the unconscionable U.S. military funding and support for this ongoing genocide. We do not want our taxpayer money to continue to arm this genocide against Palestinians.
“As a young person and as a Jew, I am taking action out of a responsibility to solidarity,” said Talia, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Seattle. “I am 18 years old, [and] 13,000 of the dead were younger than I am today. Many of the soldiers holding machine guns are my age. It hurts to breathe. I am taking action as an expression of grief but also to dream of life together. Sen. Murray needs to know we will keep fighting until every Palestinian child is allowed to grow up.”
During the Passover seder in the streets, Seattleites wore black T-shirts reading “Not in Our Name” and collectively painted a mural to represent the intentional starving of Palestinians by the Israeli government.
As Jews, we know it is not antisemitic to critique the Israeli government. We demand our elected officials use their power to send more humanitarian aid to a starving population rather than more arms to the Israeli government.
“How can we celebrate Passover, the holiday that commemorates deliverance from bondage, at a time when Jewish safety is being cynically used to justify atrocities against the people of Gaza, who are literally starving?” asked Leonard Sklar, a concerned Jewish Seattleite. “The answer is to take our seder to the streets and demand that Sen. Murray stop sending military aid and weapons to Israel.”
Less than 24 hours after the mural was painted, the Seattle Department of Transportation prioritized city resources to paint over the mural’s words “No funds for genocide: let Gaza live.” As reported by the Seattle Times, an SDOT spokesperson said the mural was being removed in phases to prevent harmful chemicals from going into storm drains. However, nontoxic washable paint was utilized.
The veneer of liberal environmentalism to censor a peaceful message against genocide is misplaced. It is ironic to claim environmental damage from paint given how many poisonous chemicals are being aimed at those who struggle for Palestinian freedom, from Gaza to Columbia University. The Israeli military’s bombardment in Gaza is causing severe environmental concerns, such as drastic water and air pollution. Additionally, 22.9 million tons of debris remain from the bombings, which contain harmful substances like asbestos, heavy metals, fire contaminants and hazardous chemicals. It has also been reported that soil will turn infertile and that chemicals from white phosphorus weapons used in Gaza will linger in the air for years. More than 2,000 agricultural sites, including farms and greenhouses, have been destroyed in Gaza since October 2023. If you care about the environment, try standing up against ecocide and genocide rather than removing some nontoxic paint from a Seattle street.
One of Judaism’s most deeply held values is pikuach nefesh, the imperative to save every life. So as descendants of people who have survived genocide, displacement, ethnic cleansing and persecution because of our identity, we refuse to stay silent while others are persecuted for their identity.
“Never Again” means never again for anyone, including Palestinians.
Read more of the May 1–7, 2024 issue.