FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 22
CONTACT: Logan Smith, Bend the Arc, [email protected], 202-709-8825

Statement on Sunrise DC tweet

Bend the Arc’s focus is to unite American Jews around domestic issues that make our country a place where everyone is safe and free to thrive no matter what we look like, how we pray, or where we come from. 

We do our work in diverse coalitions which form around shared commitments to a common goal, whether to stop the rise of authoritarianism and build an inclusive multi-racial democracy, or to expand access to citizenship, healthcare, paid family leave, and affordable housing. Only by working together across lines of difference are we powerful enough to tackle the enormous existential crises we face as a society. We reject attempts to divide us from winning the future we need. We need all of our voices in this fight — the only people who benefit from us being divided are the people who want to sabotage elections and subvert democracy, no matter who gets hurt. 

We believe that SunriseDC’s statement refusing to participate in an action that included the RAC, JCPA and NCJW was an antisemitic act that fuels division and fear. While Bend the Arc only works on domestic issues, we want to be clear that it is antisemitic to hold Jews or Jewish organizations to a different standard than other non-Jewish organizations on any issue, which in this case was Israel. 

We say this out of a spirit of rooting ourselves and caring deeply for our movements, which means it is up to all of us to interrupt antisemitism, racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Muslim bigotry and all other forms of oppression. We have been working for many years with our Jewish and non-Jewish partners to understand and unlearn racism, antisemitism and other systems that cause harm. We will continue to do the hard work of joining together across lines of difference to dismantle all forms of oppression.

Jews have a home in our progressive movements to build a country for all of us. We need one another too much and we can and must do better. There is so much at stake.