SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
July, 17 2018, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Sonya E Meyerson-Knox, sonya@jvp.org, 929-290-0317
First Ever: Over 30 Jewish Groups Worldwide Oppose Equating Antisemitism With Criticism of Israel
Jewish Voice for Peace proud to stand in global solidarity against harmful definition of antisemitism and with human rights and freedom to protest
WASHINGTON
From South Africa to Sweden, New Zealand to Germany to Brazil, for the first time ever over thirty Jewish organizations across the globecame together in a statement condemning attempts to stifle criticism of Israel.
The statement warns of a growing trend of legislative campaigns to target organizations that support Palestinian rights, particularly the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
"From our own histories we are all too aware of the dangers of increasingly fascistic and openly racist governments and political parties," the global letter states. "The rise in antisemitic discourse and attacks worldwide is part of that broader trend. At times like this, it is more important than ever to distinguish between the hostility to or prejudice against Jews on the one hand and legitimate critiques of Israeli policies and system of injustice on the other."
The United States has witnessed increasing legislative efforts to criminalize the boycott of illegal Israeli settlements and repress advocacy for Palestinian human rights by defining such acts as antisemitic, with two bills currently under discussion in US Congress. Such efforts are mirrored at the state level, where more than 25 state legislatures have considered or enacted various forms of targeting advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Of particular concern is the usage of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, intentionally worded such that it equates legitimate criticisms of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism, as a means to suppress the former.
A similar approach is being employed across Europe. In France and Germany, the bank accounts of BDS groups were closed and campaigns promoting the boycott of goods from illegal Israeli settlements were convicted of incitement to hatred. The UK has witnessed an ongoing battle about the legality of local government boycotts against Israeli settlements.
The state of Israel has waged its own campaign against advocates of BDS. In January, the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs announced a ban prohibiting the leaders of 20 organizations worldwide from entering Israel, including Jewish Voice for Peace, for supporting BDS. And in 2015, the Israeli High Court upheld a law which allows individuals to sue individuals calling for a boycott of Israel or of companies profiting from illegal Israeli settlements.
"It is vital that Jewish organizations across the globe stand united against harmful definitions of antisemitism and together for human rights and the freedom to protest. We at JVP are proud to have initiated this historic effort,"
stated Rebecca Vilkomerson, Jewish Voice for Peace Executive Director.
Ms. Vilkomerson is available to speak with the media.
List of endorsing Jewish organizations:
Academia4equality (Israel)
Boycott from Within (Israeli citizens for BDS)
Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel)
Collectif Judeo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine (Strasbourg, France)
Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation (New Zealand)
Een Ander Joods Geluid (A Different Jewish Voice) (The Netherlands)
Een Andere Joodse Stem - Another Jewish Voice (Flanders, Belgium)
European Jews for a Just Peace
Free Speech on Israel (UK)
Gate48 - critical Israelis in the Netherlands
Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)
Independent Jewish Voices (UK)
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Italian Network of Jews Against the Occupation
Jewish Anti-Fascist Action Berlin (Germany)
Jewish Voice For Labour (UK)
Jewish Voice for Peace (USA)
Jewish Voice for Peace members in London (UK)
Jews Against Fascism (Melbourne, Australia)
Jews for Justice for Palestinians (UK)
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return (USA)
Jews of Color & Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Solidarity w/ Palestine (USA)
Jews Say No! (USA)
JIPF - Judar for Israelisk Palestinsk Fred (Sweden)
Judische Stimme fur gerechten Frieden im Nahost e.V. (Germany)
Junts, Associacio Catalana de Jueus i Palestins (Catalonia, Spain)
Los Otros Judios (Argentina)
Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine (UK)
Quebrando Muros - Judeus Brasileiros Pela Descolonizacao da Palestina (Brazil)
SEDQ Network- A Global Jewish Network for Justice
South African Jewish Voices for a Just Peace (South Africa)
South African Jews for a Free Palestine (South Africa)
Union des progressistes juifs de Belgique (Saint-Gilles, Belgium)
United Jewish People's Order (UJPO)-Canada
Union Juive Francaise pour la Paix (France)
Workman's Circle, Boston (USA)
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.
(510) 465-1777LATEST NEWS
Georgia Judge Denounces Murder Charge in Abortion Case as 'Extremely Problematic'
States that have criminalized abortion are "getting much more explicit" in pushing to prosecute women for obtaining abortion care, said one rights advocate.
Mar 24, 2026
A state judge in Georgia on Monday set a bail payment at just $1 for a woman who was charged with murder earlier this month after she took abortion pills to end a pregnancy—a charge about which Judge Steven G. Blackerby of State Superior Court expressed extreme skepticism.
“I think that charge is extremely problematic,” Blackerby said during a hearing that the woman, Alexia Moore, attended virtually. “That is going to be a hard charge to convict upon.”
District Attorney Keith Higgins, who is overseeing the case against Moore, also did not appear convinced that the 31-year-old should be imprisoned for the medication abortion she had last December. He told the judge that "whatever bond the defendant can make that will allow her to get out of jail is appropriate," and noted that police in Kingsland, Georgia had brought charges against Moore without his office's support.
Higgins said he was not ready to drop the murder charge altogether, but said he was also not prepared to present the case to a grand jury.
Moore had been in jail for about two weeks when the hearing took place. Investigators in Kingsland accused her of “unlawfully and with malice aforethought [causing] the death of Baby Girl Moore.” In addition to malice murder they charged her with possession of a controlled substance and a dangerous drug.
She was rushed to Southeast Georgia Health Center on December 30 after experiencing severe abdominal pain. Court records showed Moore told the medical staff she had taken about eight pills of misoprostol, a pill that can be used for medication abortion, and oxycodone for pain. She went into labor at the hospital and delivered a baby who was determined to be in the second trimester of development. The baby was declared dead about an hour after birth.
She said she had bought the medication online and believed herself to be less than 14 weeks pregnant.
The Kingsland Police Department did not specifically cite Georgia's six-week abortion ban—which the state Supreme Court has allowed to remain in effect despite a Superior Court ruling that permanently enjoined the ban and found it unconstitutional—but The New York Times reported that documents supporting the department's arrest warrant "echoed aspects of the ban, including saying that 'the baby was well beyond six weeks of conception.'"
The police said Moore was charged with murder because “the victim became a person at the moment of live birth.”
Higgins acknowledged in court that the malice murder charge may not meet "factual and merit" standards, and both Blackerby and Kelly Turner, Moore's defense attorney, noted that Georgia law prohibits the criminalization of someone who has induced an abortion on themself.
The Current, a Georgia-based outlet, also reported that "privacy issues" are likely to be scrutinized in court if the district attorney continues to pursue the case.
"A security guard at Southeast Georgia Health Center in St. Marys called police after medical staff said that Moore had ingested abortion medication and the infant was older than six weeks, according to police records, which also cited Moore’s previous abortion history," reported The Current.
Turner argued in court that Moore legally procured the misoprostol and noted that her blood tests and hospital records did not show Oxycodone in her system.
"Today’s decision is a reminder that justice is not served by accusation alone," said Don Plummer, press officer for the Georgia Public Defender Council, which is representing Moore.
Author and advocate Jessica Valenti of Abortion, Every Day emphasized after Moore's arrest that the murder charge shows how states that have criminalized abortion care are "getting much more explicit" about the anti-choice movement's desire to punish women for obtaining abortions—even though in the past, laws have typically avoided prosecuting them.
A 31-year-old in Georgia has been arrested and charged with murder for allegedly ending her pregnancy with abortion medication.
Here’s what we know: pic.twitter.com/EXAcMqEdak
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) March 16, 2026
The district attorneys of Georgia's four largest counties pledged in 2019, after the passage of the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, that they would not prosecute people who obtain abortions.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, women in states including Kentucky, Ohio, and South Carolina have faced charges for obtaining abortion care and for suffering pregnancy loss. An Ohio woman sued medical providers last year for conspiring with police to fabricate a criminal case against her; she had been charged with felony abuse of a corpse after having a miscarriage, but a grand jury declined to indict her.
"I really hope that people are paying attention to this," said Valenti of the attempt to bring charges against Moore. "They really are counting on us being too overwhelmed to act, so it's incredibly, incredibly important that we let them know we're paying attention."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Kristi Noem 2.0': Two Democrats Join Republicans in Confirming Mullin to Lead DHS
"Mullin refused to rule out sending armed, masked agents to polling places this November," noted one advocacy group.
Mar 24, 2026
The US Senate voted mostly along party lines on Monday to confirm former Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security amid a partial shutdown at the agency that led President Donald Trump to deploy immigration enforcement agents to chaos-ridden airports.
Two Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, joined every Republican except for Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in voting to confirm Mullin, who will succeed scandal-plagued Kristi Noem at DHS—a sprawling agency that oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Christina Harvey, executive director of the advocacy group Stand Up America, said in response to the vote that "Mullin’s confirmation hearings made clear he lacks the character and qualifications to serve as DHS secretary."
"He’s Kristi Noem 2.0: an election denier with unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump and a penchant for profiting off public office," said Harvey. "Mullin signaled he’ll continue the administration’s pattern of shielding federal agents from accountability while blocking crucial reforms. Even more alarming, Mullin refused to rule out sending armed, masked agents to polling places this November."
"Senate Republicans put Mullin in power," Harvey added, "and they’ll be responsible for what comes next.”
The confirmation vote came amid reports that senators are on the verge of a deal to end the month-long shutdown at DHS, which has left TSA workers unpaid. In the wake of ICE agents' deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, Democratic lawmakers have demanded reforms to the immigration enforcement body as part of any DHS funding deal.
Roll Call reported late Monday that the "tentative arrangement" senators are considering "would split off a large chunk of regular fiscal 2026 funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the earlier full-year funding bill for DHS that stalled in the Senate."
"Democrats wouldn’t get everything they want in the tentative pact; Customs and Border Protection would be funded, for instance," the outlet noted. "And there were discussions about keeping other parts of ICE funded, including the Homeland Security Investigations division that works on anti-terror efforts, transnational crime, child exploitation, and human trafficking."
News of potential progress toward an agreement came after Trump nearly torpedoed negotiations by demanding that Republicans attach a massive voter suppression bill known as the SAVE America Act to any DHS funding deal.
“Don’t make any deal on anything unless you include voter ID,” Trump said during an event in Tennessee earlier Monday.
Politico reported late Monday that Senate Republicans are "looking at using reconciliation"—a filibuster-proof budget process—to "pass more ICE funding as well as parts of their partisan GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act."
The legislation is part of what experts and democracy advocates have characterized as a sweeping Trump administration effort to sabotage the 2026 midterm elections. As part of that effort, the Trump administration has reportedly weighed the possibility of sending ICE agents to polling sites—something that Mullin declined to rule out during his confirmation hearing.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in his statement opposing Mullin's confirmation that "with Trump unleashing ICE agents at our airports, we cannot risk another leader at DHS who will simply rubberstamp the illegal, brutal Trump agenda."
"Mullin refused to retract earlier comments he made justifying Renee Good’s murder at the hands of ICE officers. He refused to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. He deflected when asked if he would send ICE officers to the polls during the midterm elections," said Markey. "I voted against Senator Mullin’s nomination because he has not shown that he will lead DHS with independence, put an end to ICE’s lawlessness, or seek real accountability at the department and its agencies."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Vance to Attend Billionaire-Hosted Fundraisers as Iran War Worsens Cost Crisis, Hunger
"JD Vance has a lot of nerve showing up in Texas to shake down wealthy donors... while Texans are paying through the nose at the pump and can’t get through the airport his party broke,” said one Democratic state lawmaker.
Mar 23, 2026
Vice President JD Vance's scheduled attendance at three $100,000-per-couple fundraisers has raised eyebrows and ire as Americans struggle to make ends meet due to the Trump administration economic policies and experts warn that the US-Israeli war on Iran could cause tens of millions of people in the Global South to suffer acute hunger.
Vance—who is widely expected to run for president in 2028—is in Texas this week for Republican National Committee fundraisers in Austin on Monday and Dallas on Tuesday. The vice president is also scheduled to attend another similar fundraising event in Nashville, Tennessee on March 30.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Joe Lonsdale, the billionaire founder of the controversial data analytics company Palantir, is hosting the Austin event. Billionaire investor and real estate developer Ray Washburne will co-host the Dallas fundraiser along with Chris Buskirk, founder of the venture capital firm where Donald Trump Jr. works. Buskirk openly advocates for an American "aristocracy" that "takes care of the country and governs it well so that everyone prospers.”
Also set to co-host the Dallas event is David Hininger, the former CEO of CoreCivic, a leading private prison firm in an industry that has gloated about the "unprecedented" profit potential of Trump's mass arrest and deportation campaign against undocumented immigrants.
Donors were reportedly asked to pay $250,000 to host one of the fundraisers.
"While Vance dines with billionaire donors, Americans are struggling to get by in the Trump-Vance economy as prices on everything from gas to groceries soar and working families dip into their savings to make ends meet," the Democratic National Committee said in a statement Monday.
"Trump and Vance’s war with Iran has already claimed the lives of 13 US service members and injured over 230, while driving up global oil prices and gas prices for Americans back home," the DNC added, without mentioning the thousands of Iranians killed or wounded by the illegal war of choice. "According to [the American Automobile Association], the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.96 nationwide, up from $2.94 just one month ago."
Trump campaigned on promises of no new wars and lower consumer prices, including gas, on "day one." Since returning to office, he has ordered the bombing of seven countries. Gas prices are up around 30% since Trump returned to the White House in January 2020.
“Prices on everything from gas to groceries to rent are soaring because of the Trump-Vance agenda, and what is JD Vance up to? He’s rubbing elbows with billionaires and special interests while working families struggle to make ends meet," DNC Chair Ken Martin said Monday. "Everyday Americans are stretching every dollar just to get by, and Vance is worried about lining his own pockets.”
Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Christina Morales (D-145) told the Houston Chronicle Monday that "JD Vance has a lot of nerve showing up in Texas to shake down wealthy donors for a quarter of a million dollars a head while Texans are paying through the nose at the pump and can’t get through the airport his party broke."
The war on Iran and its cascading global economic impacts could also fuel a sharp rise in acute hunger around the world, the United Nations World Food Program warned last week. WFP said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is driving higher energy and fertilizer prices, which in turn can result in more expensive food.
“If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest," Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director and chief operating officer, said. “Without an adequately funded humanitarian response, it could spell catastrophe for millions already on the edge.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular