Over 1,000 Jewish activists and allies took part in a demonstration at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday August 12, 2019. (Photo: Naomi Dann/Twitter)
'We Will Fight': Over 40 Arrested as Jewish Activists and Allies Confront Amazon for Profiting Off ICE Terror
"Amazon collaborates with ICE, and everyone needs to know that. When we say never again we mean it. Never again to camps, never again to roundups, and never again to profiting from misery."
More than 1,000 Jewish activists and allies gathered at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday to protest the online retail behemoth's collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which swept up nearly 700 people last week in what was reportedly one of the agency's largest-ever raids.
Over 40 demonstrators were arrested during Sunday's action, which included a sit-in inside the Amazon store.
As Gizmodo reported, the activists rallied "to draw attention to [Amazon Web Service's] cloud contracts with ICE and Palantir Technologies, which provides the agency with data for use in immigration raids and other enforcement actions."
Amazon, run by world's richest man Jeff Bezos, has been described as a the "the invisible backbone of ICE's immigration crackdown" due to its lucrative government contracts.
Demonstrators hoped to call attention to Amazon's role in ICE's nationwide terror campaign against immigrants, which has been intensified by President Donald Trump.
The protest in New York City was one of a number of nationwide demonstrations against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda on Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of mourning.
According to the Washington Post, thousands of Jewish activists took part in demonstrations in around 60 locations across the United States, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. One organizer said over 250 Jewish activists have been arrested over the past month for protesting ICE's mass detention and abuse of immigrants.
"We mourn the destruction of all things holy on the Jewish observance of Tisha B'Av," Sharon Kleinbaum, senior rabbi with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, told Gizmodo in a statement.
"This current administration's attacks on immigrants, Muslims, Jews, people of color, and so many others are likewise horrific destruction of holiness," said Kleinbaum. "CBST is proud to stand with all those suffering today and against the evil of the camps, ICE policies, and the separation of families. Never again is now."
Rabbi Shai Held added that there is "a tremendous amount to mourn--the relentless assault on the most basic values of empathy and decency; the cruelty daily enacted in our name; the metastasization of racism and antisemitism in our country."
"We mourn," Held said, "but we are also here today to say that beyond mourning, we will fight."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
More than 1,000 Jewish activists and allies gathered at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday to protest the online retail behemoth's collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which swept up nearly 700 people last week in what was reportedly one of the agency's largest-ever raids.
Over 40 demonstrators were arrested during Sunday's action, which included a sit-in inside the Amazon store.
As Gizmodo reported, the activists rallied "to draw attention to [Amazon Web Service's] cloud contracts with ICE and Palantir Technologies, which provides the agency with data for use in immigration raids and other enforcement actions."
Amazon, run by world's richest man Jeff Bezos, has been described as a the "the invisible backbone of ICE's immigration crackdown" due to its lucrative government contracts.
Demonstrators hoped to call attention to Amazon's role in ICE's nationwide terror campaign against immigrants, which has been intensified by President Donald Trump.
The protest in New York City was one of a number of nationwide demonstrations against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda on Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of mourning.
According to the Washington Post, thousands of Jewish activists took part in demonstrations in around 60 locations across the United States, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. One organizer said over 250 Jewish activists have been arrested over the past month for protesting ICE's mass detention and abuse of immigrants.
"We mourn the destruction of all things holy on the Jewish observance of Tisha B'Av," Sharon Kleinbaum, senior rabbi with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, told Gizmodo in a statement.
"This current administration's attacks on immigrants, Muslims, Jews, people of color, and so many others are likewise horrific destruction of holiness," said Kleinbaum. "CBST is proud to stand with all those suffering today and against the evil of the camps, ICE policies, and the separation of families. Never again is now."
Rabbi Shai Held added that there is "a tremendous amount to mourn--the relentless assault on the most basic values of empathy and decency; the cruelty daily enacted in our name; the metastasization of racism and antisemitism in our country."
"We mourn," Held said, "but we are also here today to say that beyond mourning, we will fight."
More than 1,000 Jewish activists and allies gathered at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday to protest the online retail behemoth's collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which swept up nearly 700 people last week in what was reportedly one of the agency's largest-ever raids.
Over 40 demonstrators were arrested during Sunday's action, which included a sit-in inside the Amazon store.
As Gizmodo reported, the activists rallied "to draw attention to [Amazon Web Service's] cloud contracts with ICE and Palantir Technologies, which provides the agency with data for use in immigration raids and other enforcement actions."
Amazon, run by world's richest man Jeff Bezos, has been described as a the "the invisible backbone of ICE's immigration crackdown" due to its lucrative government contracts.
Demonstrators hoped to call attention to Amazon's role in ICE's nationwide terror campaign against immigrants, which has been intensified by President Donald Trump.
The protest in New York City was one of a number of nationwide demonstrations against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda on Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of mourning.
According to the Washington Post, thousands of Jewish activists took part in demonstrations in around 60 locations across the United States, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. One organizer said over 250 Jewish activists have been arrested over the past month for protesting ICE's mass detention and abuse of immigrants.
"We mourn the destruction of all things holy on the Jewish observance of Tisha B'Av," Sharon Kleinbaum, senior rabbi with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, told Gizmodo in a statement.
"This current administration's attacks on immigrants, Muslims, Jews, people of color, and so many others are likewise horrific destruction of holiness," said Kleinbaum. "CBST is proud to stand with all those suffering today and against the evil of the camps, ICE policies, and the separation of families. Never again is now."
Rabbi Shai Held added that there is "a tremendous amount to mourn--the relentless assault on the most basic values of empathy and decency; the cruelty daily enacted in our name; the metastasization of racism and antisemitism in our country."
"We mourn," Held said, "but we are also here today to say that beyond mourning, we will fight."