Jewish Voice for Peace-Buffalo to Hold Religious Ritual and Action as Israeli Destruction of Gaza Enters Second Year
Please find the press release below, provided by JVP Buffalo
PRESS ALERT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2024
Contact: jvpbuffalo@gmail.com
Jewish Voice for Peace-Buffalo to Hold Religious Ritual and Action as Israeli Destruction of Gaza Enters Second Year
Jews across Buffalo to demand that WNY congressional lawmakers and the U.S.
stop arming Israel and halt the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians
Buffalo, New York (October 6th, 5:30pm) — Jewish Buffalonians will hold a Tashlich ritual and action at Hoyt Lake in Buffalo’s Delaware Park to recommit to ending Israel’s catastrophic war against Palestinians. Participants will join Jews of conscience across the country to demand that the U.S. immediately stop arming Israel. Participants will call on our elected officials in Congress to support proposed legislation to prevent $20 billion in military aid to Israel.
This Tashlich ritual and action comes at the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,100 Israeli soldiers and civilians, and the deaths of over 41,000 Palestinians, including more than 15,000 children, and the injuring of more than 93,000 Palestinians.
The ritual and action is being organized by Jewish Voice for Peace-Buffalo, and joined by partner organizations and the larger Buffalo community. Participants will prominently include Jewish residents of the Buffalo area.
This past year has been one of death and destruction in Israel/Palestine. The only way to end the violence is to stop sending arms to the Israeli military. Participants will join a growing movement across the country to call on the U.S. government to stop sending weapons and funding to the Israeli military.
“The U.S. government is supporting Israel in its genocidal campaign,” said Anna Falicov of JVP-Buffalo, and a member of Buffalo’s Jewish community. “Our tax dollars are funding the weapons our government is sending to the Israeli military. The U.S. government must stop funding the Israeli military’s genocide of Gaza.”
Tashlich is a Jewish ritual of “casting off” transgressions in preparation for the Jewish New Year. “As Jews of conscience, we’re gathering in ritual to cast off the horrors of the past year and to take action together to end the genocide in Gaza,” said Jenifer Kaminsky of JVP-Buffalo, and a member of Buffalo’s Jewish community. “We’re gathering to mourn the dead, but also to fight for the living by demanding that the U.S. stop arming Israel.”
Media welcome: Interviews will be available with representatives of Jewish Voice for Peace-Buffalo. Visuals include photos of carrying out the Tashlich ritual and protest.
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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.