Sustained Solidarity with Palestine for the Holiday Season

SJF will be on pause from December 18-January 12. We adopted this practice as one part of our effort to position Black liberation and wellness as guiding principles for our organization. Our rest is explicitly political, a response to racialized capitalism’s demands on our individual and collective wellbeing to maintain its chokehold on power.

But rest isn’t synonymous with checking out. The people of Palestine now enter their third month of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and its rising attacks on Palestinians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. As a community dedicated to the liberation of all oppressed people, we must not turn away—in the words of Palestinian writer and activist Hala Alyan, we owe Gaza endurance. We strongly encourage our donors and community members to continue engaging in the movement for Palestinian liberation throughout the holiday season by donating, participating in political actions, and educating yourself and your loved ones about the history of occupied Palestine and the adamant legacy of Palestinian resistance. It’s #FreePalestine every day until Palestine is truly free!

For SJF community in the Seattle/Tacoma area, we also want to draw your attention to the 400+ community of refugees from Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Cameroon, and other Central African countries currently sheltering at the Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila. There are active calls out to support these asylum seekers by donating funds, food, blankets, and other resources, as well as for volunteers for translation, transportation, food distribution, and research Please consider donating by Venmo to the undocumented youth-led mutual aid group Super Familia (@super_familia on Venmo) and signing up to volunteer via this form.

Winter holidays all across the world are marked by their emphasis on light and communities gathering together. In the darkest part of the year they are reminders of what is precious and life-giving, that there is a new day on the other side of the night. Whatever holidays or seasonal rituals you participate in, let them fill you, heal you, and anchor you to a commitment to collective liberation in 2024!

Donate

• Grassroots International’s Emergency Fund for Palestine
• Union of Agricultural Work Committees (Palestine)
• The SWANA Rose Cultural + Community Center PDX
• Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return UW
• Palestinian Youth Movement
• Palestine Legal
• Jewish Voice for Peace
• Institute for Middle East Understanding

Act

• Follow for in-person actions and events
  • Seattle
    • Falastiniyat
    • Samidoun Seattle
    • SUPER UW
    • Jewish Voice for Peace Seattle
    • Healthcare Workers for Palestine Seattle
  • Portland
    • Healthcare Workers for Palestine Portland
    • The SWANA Rose Culture + Community Center
    • Jewish Voice for Peace Portland
    • Mothers for a Ceasefire
  • Boise
    • Boise to Palestine

Sign, call, and email

• Time sensitive! Sign this petition to tell WA Senators to vote NO on $14.3 billion for Israel’s military
• Demand a ceasefire by calling and emailing your members of congress using the following links; do this daily, weekly, or as often as you’re able to keep the pressure on!
  • Tell Congress: End Your Complicity with Biden’s Genocide (Adalah Justice Project)
  • Tell Congress: Ceasefire Now (Adalah Justice Project)
  • Contact Biden & Congress: Keep Pushing for a Ceasefire (Americans for Justice in Palestine Action)
  • Write, Call, and Tweet Congress: Stop Genocide in Gaza (MPower Action)
  • Call Congress: Stop Genocide in Gaza (JVP)
  • President Biden, call a ceasefire now (JVP)

Boycott

• Get involved with the Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions movement and follow their targeted boycotts of specific products and companies
• Follow and act on the Divest-Mas 2023 guide posted by Nikkita Oliver

Educate

• Read
  • Decolonize Palestine is an in-depth website with rich resources on the history of colonization and occupation in Palestine
  • Free Palestine Reading List from Publishers for Palestine
  • Free E-Books for a Free Palestine from Haymarket Books
  • Free Palestine! A Reading List from Haymarket Books
• Watch
  • Ten films to watch about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict from Al Jazeera
  • 30 Films for Palestine and Where to Stream Them from the Center for Global Muslim Life
  • 26 Must-See Documentaries and Films About Palestine from Savoir Flair
• Listen
  • Let’s Talk Palestine Podcast, available on all major podcast providers
  • The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine episode of the Ottoman History Podcast by Zeinab Azarbadegan with Rashid Khalidi
  • Diaspora Podcast from Jewish Voice for Peace, on Jews wrestling with Zionism