Coalition Announces Launch of “Jews Against the War” to Give Voice to Anti-War Jewish Majority
Monday, March 19th, 2007Coalition Announces Launch of “Jews Against the War”
to Give Voice to Anti-War Jewish Majority
New Gallup Poll Shows 77% of American Jews Oppose War
(CA - Los Angeles) On the fourth anniversary of the war on Iraq, a coalition of Jewish leaders announced the launch of “Jews Against the War” (JAW), an organization dedicated to ending the Iraq war and preventing one with Iran. The group will also focus on mobilizing the overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans opposed to the war - demonstrated by a new Gallup poll showing 77% of Jews believe the Iraq War was a mistake, compared with 52% of the general American public.
This strong anti-war sentiment indicated in the poll is reflective of the Jewish community’s long history of standing up for social justice and human rights. Prominent Jewish leaders played an active role in protesting against the Vietnam War and supporting the struggle for civil rights in the South. The problem JAW sees is the disparity between these poll numbers versus the lack of an active and united Jewish effort to end the war. JAW will seek to give voice to this emerging consensus among Jews that America’s occupation of Iraq must end, something that hasn’t been done by leading pro-Israel lobby groups.
“We couldn’t continue to remain silent on one of the most catastrophic, immoral and tragic foreign policy decisions in the history of our country,” said Aryeh Cohen, Asst. Prof. of Rabbinic Literature at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. “The Talmud teaches that silence is akin to assent. Jews that oppose this administration’s illegal war must come together, speak in one voice, and say loudly and clearly: Bring the troops home and stop the endless cycle of violence.”