Healing Israel/Palestine

Jewish Students Circulate Letter of Support as Labor Union Prepares for Vote on BDS

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This Thursday, members of UAW 2865, the union that represents 13,000 graduate student instructors, readers and tutors at the nine undergraduate teaching campuses of the statewide University of California system, will vote on whether to endorse joining the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as a labor union. Nearly fifty current and former Jewish members and officers of the union have signed on to an open letter in support of the resolution.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Justice, Justice, Shall You Pursue: Grad Students Organize for BDS Policy at the University of California

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On December 4, U.C. graduate students will have the opportunity to pursue justice by exercising their vote on two related issues. The first is whether our union, Local UAW 2865, should join the global movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) to be enacted against Israel until that nation-state has complied with international law and respects the rights of all Palestinian people. The second measure asks each of us to personally commit to participation in the academic boycott against Israeli educational institutions. As a grad student, a labor activist, and as a Jew, I will be voting yes on both questions.

Gender and Sexuality

Remembering Leslie Feinberg—A Queer and Trans Fighter for Justice

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I will never forget the first time I saw Leslie Feinberg speak—New York City, 1996. The auditorium was full of young people like me who had read Stone Butch Blues and wanted to hear about gender and queerness. Leslie spoke about those things, but also about war and labor struggles and racism and U.S. militarism, refusing to deliver the narrow single-issue politics that the mainstreaming gay rights discourse had trained us to expect.

Healing Israel/Palestine

How Israel Can Regain its Lost Moral Capital: A Modest Educational Proposal

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The primary reason for the decline of Israel’s moral legitimacy in the West is its occupation and expansionist policies. According to The Economist, in some polls Israel is now ranked below Russia and only above North Korea, Pakistan and Iran on whether it is a good or bad influence on the world. Among young people its standing has been in steady decline, a decline that will likely increase as the memory of the Holocaust becomes more distant.

Non-Violent Communication (NVC)

A Reflection on Veterans Day

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Individuals and groups who stand up and put their lives on the line to defend the country from very real threats to our national security, as do those in our nation’s military, are true patriots. But true patriots are also those who speak out, stand up, and challenge our governmental leaders, those who put their lives on the line by actively advocating for justice, freedom, and liberty through peaceful means.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Empathy in the Holy Land

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I am writing after seeing a series of letters from fellow practicing physicians justifying acts of brutality during the most recent conflict in Gaza. What concerns me more than any particular political position is finding empathy in such short supply among those within the healing professions.