Activists project messages on Senator Reed’s Providence office and call for an arms embargo on Israel
Jewish constituents demand Reed support the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval blocking the sale of United States arms to Israel when it comes to a vote in the Senate this week.
From a JVP - RI press release:
Jewish Voice for Peace - Rhode Island (JVP-RI) projected messages on the Federal Building by Kennedy Plaza in Downtown Providence, where Senator Jack Reed has an office. As commuters traveled through Kennedy Plaza at rush hour, they witnessed messages reading “Reed and Whitehouse: Stop Funding Genocide,” “Arms Embargo Now,” and "Reed and Whitehouse: This is what you’re illegally arming. This is your legacy," followed by a list of the Israeli military’s documented human rights violations.
This action was timed to coincide with an upcoming Senate floor vote this week on the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch, and Jeff Merkley, which, if passed, would block the sale of United States arms to aid in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and war on Lebanon. Current United States arms transfers to Israel violate both United States and international law, which forbid the supply of weapons for use in human rights violations and crimes against humanity.
In October, five constituents disrupted Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse at a fundraising event at the Roger Williams Park Casino, calling on both leaders to support the Join Resolutions of Disapproval and work toward an arms embargo to save lives. Dozens of Rhode Islanders also gathered outside the event to voice the same demand, their chants at times drowning out the Senators’ speeches inside.
The Israeli military is currently carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, openly exterminating the Palestinian population in North Gaza and displacing over a million people in its invasion of Lebanon. Conservative estimates place the total Palestinian death toll at over 200,000, 70 percent of them women and children. As much as 70 percent of the cost of this assault has been paid for by United States weapons transfers and tax dollars. Rhode Islanders are demanding our Senators, in particular Jack Reed, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, heed the wishes of their constituents and act to end this genocide.
Jewish Voice for Peace - Rhode Island is a growing community of Jewish residents and allies in the Capital City and across the State who oppose United States support for the Israeli military as it continues its assault in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
JVP-Rhode Island is the local affiliate of Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. JVP is organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of United States Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people.
