Well, that was awkward.
Just a few days after announcing that it had hired Simone Zimmerman to be its national Jewish outreach coordinator, the Bernie Sanders campaign suspended her position yesterday, in reaction to loud, right-wing criticism of her positions, activism, and language in opposing the Israeli occupation and its enablers. I had planned yesterday to take on her chorus of critics for their ethically compromised and sometimes farcical gotcha-combing of Zimmerman’s very public and proud paper trail. Now, I must add some serious, head-shaking, profound disappointment in the Sanders campaign for what really looks like management amateur hour.
I have always felt a love for Israel and a deep compassion for the struggle of Palestinians, but in the past, I had found it difficult to find a space where I could stand in solidarity and bring my fully Jewish identity to my activism. In the IfNotNow movement we show up for ourselves by addressing anti-Semitism and working to liberate ourselves from personal and communal traumas. But our liberation is deeply bound up with the liberation of others, including the Palestinian people.
Monday’s protest vehemently affirmed the last of IfNotNow’s principles, which says, “We believe that we will win.”
On March 22nd, young Jews through If Not Now protested AIPAC’s support for the occupation and Donald Trump’s racism.
PHOTOS: On April 9th, “If Not Now, When?” held a protest seder outside the Jewish Federations of North America in opposition to endless occupation.
Last night, several hundred young Jews gathered under the banner of “If Not Now” in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza to observe Tisha B’Av, the annual
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