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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sonya E Meyerson-Knox, sonya@jvp.org, 929-290-0317

The Supreme Court Got it Wrong - the Muslim Ban is Racist, Islamophobic and Immoral

Jewish Voice for Peace appalled that the unconscionable Muslim Ban is upheld: "It is up to us to defend, support and care for each other – and we will"

WASHINGTON

Over and over again, the U.S. has bombed and destabilized and invaded countries in Latin America and the Middle East. As the world faces the largest ever refugee crisis - much of it caused by U.S. foreign policy - the Trump Administration is closing off our borders, criminalizing asylum-seekers, and terrorizing long-standing members of our community who lack official papers. Families are being detained in prison-like conditions; the thousands of children separated from their families in the past two months have yet to be reunited.

And now the Supreme Court has shamefully closed our borders to Muslims from seven countries. This decision opens the door to more blatant discrimination against people based on their race, religion, ethnicity or country of origin. Jewish Voice for Peace is appalled by this shameful decision. We cannot and will not accept living in a country that willingly separates families and calls it justice.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of JVP said: "At a time when people across the U.S. are rising up and resisting the Trump Administration's cruel border policies that criminalize immigrants and separate families, upholding the Muslim Ban reveals the limits of our courts, legal system, and governments to realize justice. It is up to us to defend, support and care for each other - and we will."

"This decision is the result of decades of racist, Islamophobic, and xenophobic policies and discourses around national security, the 'War on Terror' and immigration," said Rabbi Alissa Wise, Deputy Director of JVP. "This is yet another in a nightmare set of policies designed to target, profile, surveil and ban people who have fled from countries that the United States has bombed or invaded, as well as those whose local economies have been destroyed by U.S. military operations and trade policies. Today we stand united with our allies, friends and family: We are not going anywhere and we will fight for the rights and dignity of all people. "

Ms. Vilkomerson is available to speak with the media.

Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 200,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.

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