Tell President Biden: U.S. Must Help Protect Democracy and Human Rights for Israelis and Palestinians
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Biden:
We the undersigned are rabbis, cantors and rabbinical and cantorial students affiliated with T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization representing over 2,300 rabbis and cantors in the U.S. and Canada. With a newly elected extremist, far-right government in power and an increase in political violence in Israel, we are alarmed that the future of Israeli democracy is at risk. We write to thank you for affirming the need for a strong democracy in Israel, and to urge you to use the power of the U.S. Administration to protect democracy in Israel, as well as human rights for both Israelis and Palestinians.
As Jewish clergy, we cannot stay silent when our faith is distorted to promote violent extremism. Our holy texts elevate the values of human dignity, equality, and justice. Israel’s new governing coalition’s commitment to permanent occupation and the expansion of settlements; to undermining the Israeli judiciary; and to the embrace of racism, homophobia, and violence - all violate the highest ideals of our tradition. Only a few months into this party’s leadership, we have already seen religious extremists in the government try to justify violence and attacks on democracy, and take action likely to lead to even more bloodshed in the holy land.
Incidents of violence, including the terrorist attacks in East Jerusalem, Hamas rocket attacks, settler raids on Palestinian villages, and deaths of civilians during IDF incursions into refugee camps, will only continue as long as Israel’s government incites inflammatory retaliation and doubles down on occupation efforts, including demolitions and evictions, the expansion of settlements, and the recent move toward legal annexation of the West Bank. We know the only hope of a true solution to stopping this violence is to end the ongoing military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, but we also know this government has absolutely no plans to do so.
This is why we are calling on your Administration to be persistent in the United States’ longstanding commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state next to the State of Israel, and by investing in human rights and democracy in the region. We appreciate the administration's ongoing statements opposing settlement annexation and the attacks on the judiciary, and ask you to be even more vocal in your opposition to such moves.
Jewish text and tradition remind us to be wary of governments and ruling powers taking advantage of those whom they are charged with serving and leading. The proper role of government is enforcing mishpat (justice) and tzedakah (acts of righteousness) (II Samuel 8:15), understood as specific laws and policies instituted to ensure human dignity.
T’ruah’s rabbis and cantors, along with the vast majority of the American Jewish community, stand with the hundreds of thousands of Israeli protestors who have taken to the streets to declare that their undemocratic government does not speak for them. We will continue to advocate for a just, negotiated solution to the conflict that safeguards human rights. We ask the Biden Administration to take an active role in mitigating anti-democratic efforts in Israel and to continue to oppose policies that violate the human rights of Palestinians or Israelis, and that endanger hopes for a two-state solution in the long term.
Sincerely,
(For a list of signatories in formation, go here. Signatures are updated daily.)