Jewish Voice for Peace RI drops banners at Waterfire calling for ceasefire

"We will continue to escalate our protest and constructively and non-violently disrupt public events until there is a permanent ceasefire and an end to the occupation.”

From a press release:

Jewish Rhode Islanders and allies with Jewish Voice for Peace - Rhode Island non-violently disrupted WaterFire Providence’s partial lighting in the basin of Waterplace Park on Friday evening. As the bombing in Gaza continues and Rhode Island’s federal elected officials refuse to call for a ceasefire, activists chose to disrupt this WaterFire because it was held in honor of the 124th Army-Navy Game happening at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, an event that glorifies local militarism in a tragic moment of genocide and war crimes.

Activists non-violently and creatively disrupted the lighting with banners and chants calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire and an end to military aid to Israel. Despite 80% of Democratic voters across the country and (as of December 7th 61 members of Congress) supporting the worldwide call for a full and lasting ceasefire, no Rhode Island Federal Delegation member has yet voiced support. JVP’s non-violent direct action aimed to bring this to public attention and urge our leaders to join the growing call for a permanent ceasefire and an end to military aid to Israel.

This lighting of WaterFire was sponsored by General Dynamics Electric Boat, with additional support from BuildSubmarines.com and BlueForge Alliance. According to the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, $11,516,808 was sent to Israeli military aid by Rhode Island taxpayers’ dollars in 2020 alone. General Dynamics, the world’s fifth-largest military company, manufactures weapons used against Palestinian civilians, as well as surveillance technology to surveil immigrant communities including at the U.S.-Mexico border.

On December 7, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel since October 7 exceeded 17,000, including more than 6,600 children, in besieged Gaza, according to conservative estimates. Palestinian health officials warn that the destruction of Gazan hospitals has made it impossible to keep an accurate count and that the real number of people killed is much higher. Thousands more Palestinians are expected to die from starvation, disease, and dehydration. More than 7,000 people are missing, either trapped under rubble or dead and not yet identified. In the occupied West Bank, 260 people have been killed and more than 3,200 injured by armed settlers and Israeli occupation forces, and 3,640 people have been detained without trial.

“As Jews who draw from the lesson of our history that ‘Never Again’ means ‘Never Again’ for anyone, including Palestinians, we will not let this continue to happen in our name. We will continue to escalate our protest and constructively and non-violently disrupt public events until there is a permanent ceasefire and an end to the occupation.”

JVP-Rhode Island is the local affiliate of Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization. JVP is organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews in solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people.

We call on local media to feature the voices of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim Rhode Islanders in their coverage of this breaking news. When including Jewish perspectives, we urge journalists in our state to accurately reflect Rhode Island’s diverse Jewish community, by including the perspective of anti-Zionist Jews. Only by including the perspectives of the majority of Rhode Islanders who oppose Israel’s violence against Palestinians - and by departing from national media practices that selectively amplify pro-Israel voices - can journalists offer the fair and truthful coverage that their readers expect and deserve.

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