Jewish clergy pressure Israeli government to deliver adequate food aid into Gaza
San Franscisco—On Monday, 15 Jewish clergy risked arrest, shutting down Montgomery Street in front of the Israeli consulate to urge Israeli officials to deliver adequate food and other aid into Gaza. The rabbis, many of whom are affiliated with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, span a wide range of denominations, affiliations, and political beliefs, but are united in believing it a moral imperative to get food into Gaza, stop the killing, and free all hostages.
At a press conference preceding the civil disobedience, with 30 Jewish clergy in attendance, Rabbi David Cooper said, “We were taught – and we teach – that every human being is created in the image of God. We teach and we were taught that what is abhorrent, if it were done unto us, we must never do to another. We teach, and we must live by the commandment to not stand idly by in the sight of suffering.”
Rabbi Chai Levy also spoke at the press conference, saying: “I’m here today because as a rabbi and Jewish leader, I cannot be silent about the starvation and suffering in Gaza.”
“I was in Israel in September of 1982 and joined with over 400,000 Israelis demonstrating together demanding an official inquiry into the events of Sabra and Shatila,” said Rabbi Andrew Straus. “I joined with them in rejecting the immorality of the actions there. Today, thousands of Israelis gather every week demanding an end to the war and for the hostages to be returned. So, too, now we must join together as Jews, American and Israeli, in rejecting what is happening in Gaza today. Over 50 years ago, many leading rabbis here and in Israel declared, ‘God’s name is being desecrated through our sins.’ So, too, today, God’s name is being desecrated. Today, we cannot remain silent. We must speak out in God’s name.”
The action followed multiple similar actions by rabbis affiliated with T’ruah around the country, including a protest in New York City in late July, where 8 rabbis were arrested for blocking traffic in front of the Israeli consulate and a protest in Chicago in early August where rabbis spoke out against starvation in Gaza outside the Israeli consulate.
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our 2,300 rabbi and cantor members to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Canada, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.