Lights and Dedication of Chanukah

Chanukah  means “dedication”.

This year, in the midst of the oppression of marginalized communities, Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven dedicates our lighting of the Chanukah candles to our solidarity with these communities.

We will not be silent about anti-Muslim and racist hate speech and hate crimes. We fight anti-Muslim profiling and racial profiling in all its forms.

Anti-Muslim hate speech and incendiary rhetoric contribute to the horrific increase in hate crimes against Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim. When delivered from the oval office, the effect is magnified.

We condemn state surveillance of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities

Police target Muslim, Arab American, and South Asian communities based on religion and ethnicity, not because of indicators of criminal activity.

The Department of Homeland Security Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program has exclusively targeted American Muslims. From its inception, the underlying goal of the CVE program has been to gain access to, surveil and collect information on the American Muslim community.

We challenge through our words and actions institutionalized racism and state-sanctioned anti-Black violence.

We protest the use of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism to justify Israel’s repressive policies against Palestinians.

We protest the denial of life sustaining services and resources to the people of Gaza through the severe curtailment of electricity.

Likewise, we protest racial stigmatization to justify the totally inadequate response of the U.S. government to the devastation wrought by hurricanes Irma and Maria on Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

We honor and support indigenous rights and the resistance led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to protect their land and water.

We laud the work of our allies at New Haven Stands With Standing Rock. They have worked tirelessly to get the City of New Haven to move its funds out of Wells Fargo Bank, which has invested $467,000,000 in DAPL pipeline’s Energy Transfer Partners. New Haven’s funds belong elsewhere, in spite of Wells Fargo’s $15,000 Christmas tree “gift”.

We fully stand with the Vision for Black Lives platform. We call for an end to racist policing.

15 year old Jayson Negron was shot by Bridgeport police officer James Boulay on May 9, and left to die in the street untended for 6 hours. The state of Connecticut has withheld information from Jayson’s family and has yet to file charges. We are in solidarity with all fighting for #JusticeForJayson. #SayHisName: Jayson Negron.

We stand against U.S. policies driven by the “War on Terror” that demonize Islam and devalue, target, and kill Muslims.

We welcome Syrian refugees and stand strong for immigrants’ and refugee rights. We support the rights of undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients.

We are in solidarity with our friends at Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) and laud their vigilance in protecting human rights of  immigrants and working against deportations.

All are welcome to join us in song and solidarity on the first night of Chanukah, December 12 at 5:30PM, College and Chapel Sts.