Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation

Last updated
Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation of the West Bank
Founded1988 (1988)
FocusPalestinian solidarity, Jewish feminism
Location
  • Brooklyn, New York City

The Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza(JWCEO) was a Jewish American women's organization dedicated to opposing the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Contents

History

JWCEO was founded in New York City in April 1988 by Irena Klepfisz, Clare Kinberg, and Grace Paley. The organization held weekly vigils outside of major Jewish American organizations and in Jewish neighborhoods in order to demonstrate Jewish American opposition to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. JWCEO was affiliated with other anti-occupation organizations including the Israel Women's Alliance Against the Occupation and Women in Black. [1] The creation of the organization was encouraged by Lil Moed, a Jewish American feminist who had helped organize the precursor of the Los Angeles chapter of New Jewish Agenda. JWCEO supported peaceful negotiations between the Israeli state and the Palestinian Liberation Organization to facilitate the two-state solution. [2] Beginning on 25 April 1988, JWCEO held weekly vigils in front of Fifth Avenue offices of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Members of JWCEO included the historians Alice Kessler-Harris and Blanche Wiesen Cook, the writer Esther Broner, and the singer Ronnie Gilbert. According to Claire Kinberg, the group faced "a lot of hostility". [3] Irena Klepfisz has stated that JWCEO was more successful despite being less widely known in comparison to other Jewish feminist groups that had criticized the Israeli occupation, such as Di Vilde Chayes. [4]

Between 1989 and 1991, JWCEO published a periodical called the Jewish Women's Peace Bulletin. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli–Palestinian conflict</span> Ongoing military and political conflict in the Levant

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestinian territories</span> Occupied Palestinian territory in the Middle East

The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has referred to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and this term was used as the legal definition by the ICJ in its advisory opinion of July 2004. The term occupied Palestinian territory was used by the United Nations and other international organizations between October 1999 and December 2012 to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, but from 2012, when Palestine was admitted as one of its non-member observer states, the United Nations started using exclusively the name State of Palestine. The European Union (EU) also uses the term "occupied Palestinian territory". The government of Israel and its supporters use the label "disputed territories" instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab–Israeli peace projects</span>

Arab–Israeli peace projects are projects to promote peace and understanding between the Arab League and Israel in different spheres. These are part of a broader attempt at a peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. Sponsors of such projects can be found both in Israel and Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State of Palestine</span> Country in West Asia

Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It comprises of two disconnected regions – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It shares borders with Israel to the north, west, and south, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. Palestine's combined land area is 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem while Rafah is currently its largest city and Ramallah serves as its administrative center. The official language is Arabic. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a significant presence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordanian annexation of the West Bank</span> 1950 annexation event

The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on April 24, 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on July 31, 1988. The period started during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Jordan occupied and subsequently annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine that became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The territory remained under Jordanian control until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and eventually Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Voice for Peace</span> American anti-Zionist advocacy group

Jewish Voice for Peace is an American anti-Zionist left-wing Jewish advocacy organization that is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

New Jewish Agenda (NJA) was a multi-issue membership organization active in the United States between 1980 and 1992 and made up of about 50 local chapters. NJA's slogan was "a Jewish voice among progressives and a progressive voice among Jews." New Jewish Agenda demonstrated commitment to participatory (grassroots) democracy and civil rights for all people, especially those marginalized within the mainstream Jewish community. NJA was most controversial for its stances on the rights of Palestinians and Lesbian and Gay Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli-occupied territories</span> Territories presently occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights since the Six-Day War of 1967. It previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, occupation of the Palestinian territories was split between Egypt and Jordan, with the former having occupied the Gaza Strip and the latter having annexed the West Bank; the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights were under the sovereignty of Egypt and Syria, respectively. The first conjoined usage of the terms "occupied" and "territories" with regard to Israel was in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which was drafted in the aftermath of the Six-Day War and called for: "the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East" to be achieved by "the application of both the following principles: ... Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict ... Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel and apartheid</span> Assertion that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid

Israel's policies and actions in its ongoing occupation and administration of the Palestinian territories have drawn accusations that it is committing the crime of apartheid. Leading Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights groups have said that the totality and severity of the human rights violations against the Palestinian population in the occupied territories, and by some in Israel proper, amount to the crime against humanity of apartheid. Israel and some of its Western allies have rejected the accusation, with Israel often labeling the charge antisemitic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Halper</span> American anthropologist and activist

Jeff Halper is an Israeli-American anthropologist, author, lecturer, and political activist who has lived in Israel since 1973. He is the Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a co-founder of The One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC). He is a Jewish Israeli.

Sara M. Roy is an American political economist and scholar. She is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irena Klepfisz</span> Polish-American author, activist (born 1941)

Irena Klepfisz is a Jewish lesbian author, academic and activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestine lobby in the United States</span> Pro-Palestine American individuals and groups

The Palestine lobby in the United States is organized by a number of pro-Palestinian advocacy groups seeking to influence the United States government, institutions, and citizens to actively oppose Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, many of them members or cooperating with the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. These organizations include peace and anti-war, human rights, anti-Zionist, and Arab- and Muslim-American groups. Groups against occupation also include Jewish Voices for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, among others. Their tactics include education, protest, civil disobedience and lobbying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruchama Marton</span>

Ruchama Marton is an Israeli psychotherapist, psychiatrist, and feminist, and the founder of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. As a coalition of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches, CMEP states that it works to influence American policy in ways that will bring justice and peace for all people and countries in the Middle East. In 2010 Churches for Middle East Peace had over 100 partner churches, which are religious orders, congregations, church committees, regional church bodies, and church-related organizations such as peace fellowships that commit to working for Middle East peace, and can agree with CMEP's mission and views.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Black</span> Womens anti-war movement

Women in Black is a women's anti-war movement with an estimated 10,000 activists around the world. The first group was formed by Israeli women in Jerusalem in 1988, following the outbreak of the First Intifada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Abunimah</span> Palestinian-American journalist

Ali Hasan Abunimah is a Palestinian-American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict". A resident of Chicago who contributes regularly to publications such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, he has served as the vice-president on the board of directors of the Arab American Action Network, is a fellow at the Palestine Center, and is a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada website. He has appeared on many television discussion programs on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and other networks, and in a number of documentaries about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948 (1999).

B'Tselem is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of such violations, and help to create a human rights culture in Israel. It is currently headed by Yuli Novak, who took over in June 2023 from Hagai El-Ad, who had served as its director-general since May 2014. B'Tselem also maintains a presence in Washington, D.C., where it is known as B'Tselem USA. The organization has provoked sharp reactions within Israel, ranging from harsh criticism to strong praise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IfNotNow</span> American Jewish advocacy group

IfNotNow is an American Jewish group which opposes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its membership demonstrates against politicians, United States policies, and institutions it perceives as supporting occupation, usually seeking to apply pressure through direct action and media appearances. It has been characterized variously as progressive or far-left.

Di Vilde Chayes was a New York-based secular Jewish lesbian feminist collective that examined and responded to antisemitism and Middle Eastern politics. The collective spoke out against antisemitism in the lesbian and feminist movements and critiqued anti-Zionist activists.

References

  1. "Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Records" . Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  2. "Peace Movement in the United States". Jewish Women's Archive . Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  3. "Zionism, Anti-Semitism and Jewish Identity in the Women's Movement". Middle East Research and Information Project . Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  4. "50 IRENA KLEPFISZ". 2022-08-12. 24 February 2021.
  5. "Jewish women's peace bulletin". Harvard Library . Retrieved 2024-01-25.