Jewish Voice for Peace - Buffalo

Jewish Voice for Peace - Buffalo Jewish Voice for Peace is a progressive movement committed to Judaism beyond Zionism. (JVP Action is now doing business as JVP, as a 501c4.

Our 501c3 work continues in JVP Lab.)

Jewish Voice for Peace denounces the immoral and illegal war on Iran launched by the United States and Israel last night...
03/03/2026

Jewish Voice for Peace denounces the immoral and illegal war on Iran launched by the United States and Israel last night.

These attacks expand the endless wars that could destroy the lives of tens of millions of people. We stand in solidarity with the people of Iran and against the U.S. and Israeli government’s imperial warmongering. The diverse peoples of Iran have risen up in courage against their government’s brutal oppression for decades, including massive protests over the past two months against crushing economic hardship and for a future of freedom and democracy. For this, they have faced horrific repression, with reports of upwards of 20,000 killed and hundreds of thousands injured or arrested.

But let’s be clear: The history of imperialist regime change, warmaking, violence, and crippling sanctions on Iran and the rest of the region has for decades reinforced the oppression of the Iranian regime.

Democracy cannot be claimed, nor the freedom of people won, through the continuation of imperial wars, military assaults and foreign interventions. The precedent of the U.S. and Israel waging war on Iran is a terrifying threat to the safety of all peoples across the Middle East, and across the world. The overwhelming majority of Americans do not want genocide and endless war. And they know that the Iranian people, the Palestinian people, and all people of the region and the world should be in control of their own futures, and not at the whims of U.S. and Israeli warmongering. It will take a mass anti-war movement to stop this — the time to act is now. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-iran-no-war Read our full statement at https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2026/02/28/iran-statement/ .

JVP Action, our 501c4 organization, is now doing business as JVP; JVP Lab, our 501c3 organization, continues separately and remains focused on our nonpartisan educational and cultural work.

Israel Bonds are loans from individuals and institutions to the Israeli military and government, significantly supportin...
12/29/2025

Israel Bonds are loans from individuals and institutions to the Israeli military and government, significantly supporting Israel’s economy. Divesting from these bonds would disrupt the flow of funds to the Israeli government, interrupting “business as usual” — including the business of Israel’s apartheid regime and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

In this piece shines a light on the activists who have achieved major victories in getting states to divest from Israel Bonds. They explore what Israel Bonds are, the role they play in the Israeli occupation, and how activists are successfully mobilizing against them.

We all have a role to play in stopping the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza. Together, we can hold the Israeli government accountable for treating Palestinians inhumanely.

JVP chapters and our partners have been organizing across the country to demand their state and local fund managers divest from Israel Bonds and end their direct support for genocide and apartheid, investing instead in the health and well-being of our communities.

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Our next book club event is coming up! The book we are reading is 48kg. by Batool Abu AkleenWhen: Monday November 17th, ...
11/06/2025

Our next book club event is coming up! The book we are reading is 48kg. by Batool Abu Akleen

When: Monday November 17th, 7pm
Where: Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St

Please feel welcome to come even if you haven’t had a chance to read the book! It will be a moving conversation and if there’s interest some of the poems can be read aloud.

Here is a description of 48kg. :
One of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read. Devastatingly precise and unforgettable images emerge from every line. The Arabic and the English sit side by side on the pages of this book but the effect is deeper than language, it meets the reader in the heart. I wept reading this brilliant, natural, gifted young poet and wished her subject was something other than this atrocity visited upon her and her people. What is happening in Gaza is a genocide not a war, but not since Akhmatova have I read poetry that so potently reckons with the relationship between war and the body. They create a new category of literary grace out of the cataclysm. These are poems of fire and agony, bombing and starvation, but they are also poems of grace, cleverness, tenderness and yearning. A great international poet arrives with this collection, but it is also a landmark work of resistance. No human should have to write their poetry from inside death's dominion, but Batool Abu Akleen has done it and the result is truly astonishing.

Hope to see you there,

JVP Buffalo

According to the Buffalo News, " might be new to Congress – but he's not shy about it”We wish he would be shy about taki...
10/23/2025

According to the Buffalo News, " might be new to Congress – but he's not shy about it”

We wish he would be shy about taking AIPAC money and AIPAC vacations and less shy about denouncing genocide and occupation and signing on to HR 3565, the Block the Bombs Act!!

Both the News and Kennedy refuse to call this a genocide - even though it has been called that by the United Nations, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

The News reports that constituents are "particularly incensed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee gave Kennedy more campaign cash – $39,750 – than any other entity as of the end of last year. They also complain that he traveled to Israel with other Democratic lawmakers on an AIPAC- sponsored trip this summer and that he has refused to sign on to legislation that would limit the sale of weapons to Israel."

Kennedy was offended that we thought his campaign contributions were influencing his positions. But Out of Touch Tim certainly isn't listening to his constituents or even the majority of Democrats, who, according to the New York Times, are pulling "Away from AIPAC, Reflecting a Broader Shift".

So let’s keep the pressure up! Call Rep. Tim Kennedy TODAY, TOMORROW, and NEXT WEEK, and tell him to cosponsor HR 3565, Block the Bombs!

Call his office:
Tim Kennedy
DC: (202) 225-3306
Buffalo: (716) 852-3501

First ceasefire, then Palestinian liberation.Today, after more than two years of the US-backed Israeli genocide of Pales...
10/09/2025

First ceasefire, then Palestinian liberation.

Today, after more than two years of the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, President Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of ceasefire agreement. And while the single most important thing right now is saving Palestinian life, Trump’s deal does nothing to address the root cause of injustice: Israel’s brutal military rule and oppression of Palestinians.

Read our full statement in the attached images or at jvp.org/ceasefire2025
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10/08/2025

On the day after Yom Kippur, at the start of the Jewish new year, Buffalo turned out in solidarity with Palestine.

As we reflect on the High Holy Days, we know that this genocide is not an act of God. It is an act of human against human. It is up to us to take accountability and do acts of righteousness - to stop arming Israel, to end the occupation, to ensure that everyone in that land lives with human rights and dignity.

We ask ourselves, what will we do differently this year? What actions will we take to stop this genocide? Who by being out in these streets, who by calling their elected officials, who by having hard conversations with those who choose to be blind to these horrors? How will we ensure that Palestine is written into the book of life, so that in this year of 5786, Palestine will be free.

10/04/2025

Buffalo turned out to express solidarity with Gaza and call on to cosponsor the Block the Bombs bill, HR 3565.

The bill reflects the will of the majority of Americans, major labor unions, civil rights groups, and faith leaders who demand an end to U.S. complicity in atrocities.

Call Rep. Tim Kennedy TODAY, TOMORROW, and NEXT WEEK, and tell him to cosponsor HR 3565, Block the Bombs!

Call Rep. Kennedy:
📞 DC: (202) 225-3306
📞 Buffalo: (716) 852-3501

Join us tomorrow at Niagara Square. Gather at 3:30. Program to start at 4pm.This will be an interfaith rally for solidar...
10/02/2025

Join us tomorrow at Niagara Square. Gather at 3:30. Program to start at 4pm.

This will be an interfaith rally for solidarity with the people of Gaza.

While  continues to press his support for the genocide in Gaza, a new Times/Siena Poll Finds support for Israel "dramati...
10/01/2025

While continues to press his support for the genocide in Gaza, a new Times/Siena Poll Finds support for Israel "dramatically declines" - especially among Democratic voters.

As the Times reports, "a majority of American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel."

We call on Congressman Tim Kennedy to join 52 of his Democratic colleagues in co-sponsoring H.R. 3565, the Block the Bombs Act, which would stop U.S. shipments of the deadliest weapons — bombs, tank rounds, and artillery shells — to the Israeli military.

These weapons have been used in the mass killing of over 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023, destroying hospitals, schools, and homes, and displacing 90% of Gaza’s population.

The bill reflects the will of the majority of Americans, major labor unions, civil rights groups, and faith leaders who demand an end to U.S. complicity in atrocities.

Call Rep. Tim Kennedy TODAY, TOMORROW, and NEXT WEEK, and tell him to cosponsor HR 3565, Block the Bombs!

Call Rep. Kennedy:
📞 DC: (202) 225-3306
📞 Buffalo: (716) 852-3501

Solidarity with Gaza RallyWhen: Friday, October 3rd, 4pmWhere: Niagara Square, Buffalo, NYWe are calling on all people o...
09/26/2025

Solidarity with Gaza Rally

When: Friday, October 3rd, 4pm
Where: Niagara Square, Buffalo, NY

We are calling on all people of conscience in Western New York to join us for a rally to say that we stand in Solidarity with Gaza and that the U.S. needs to Stop Arming Israel. We want this gathering to be as big as possible, please share the info with everyone you know. Join the Muslim Public Affairs Council of WNY, Jewish Voice for Peace Buffalo, the Christian Peace Collective of WNY, and the WNY Peace Center in standing up for Palestinians and showing Buffalo, New York State, the Country, and the World that we in Buffalo will not be silent in the face of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

If you have a JVP shirt, please wear it. Bring a sign, or carry one of ours. This is a time to be loud and visible.

 reports that “Congressman Tim Kennedy, a Democrat, has sponsored a bill that would mandate the hiring of thousands of U...
09/16/2025

reports that “Congressman Tim Kennedy, a Democrat, has sponsored a bill that would mandate the hiring of thousands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.

Kennedy’s staff says the new hires would be used to facilitate people and goods crossing the borders. But data shows the Trump administration is using the class of officers covered by Kennedy’s bill to arrest and deport immigrants.

The bill — dubbed the “Securing America’s Ports of Entry Act of 2025” — would require the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to hire 1,000 new officers each year until an appropriate staffing level is achieved. The legislation does not specify what that level may be. The labor union representing CBP officers said there’s a current shortage of 5,580.”

writes, “On paper, says the extra agents are for helping people and goods cross the borders safely (both Canadian & Mexican).

But the legislation doesn’t clearly prevent those new officers from being used in enforcement or deportations — in fact, data shows administrations have used similar officers for those purposes.

So what does this mean? It could mean increased ICE / CBP presence even for immigrants who are here legally.

It’s a reminder that enforcement policy = immigration policy.

What happens at the border doesn’t stay at the border — it affects us all across New York State.

Buffalo deserves leaders who fight for our families, not ones who make it easier for ICE to target them.”

Once again, Tim is out of touch on the issues, harming families in WNY and Palestine.

Kudos to Buffalo’s own Investigative Post for noting Rep. Tim Kennedy’s “tone deaf” trip to Israel, paid for by AIPAC, h...
08/23/2025

Kudos to Buffalo’s own Investigative Post for noting Rep. Tim Kennedy’s “tone deaf” trip to Israel, paid for by AIPAC, his top donor.

Why exactly was Kennedy’s trip “tone deaf”?

Israel’s own top human rights group has said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel’s own former defense minister says Israel is committing ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

Only 8% of Democrats support Israel’s action in Gaza.

The whole world sees that Israel is starving Palestinians in Gaza.

And yet Rep. Tim Kennedy thinks it’s appropriate to take an AIPAC trip to cozy up with Israeli leaders overseeing this genocide in Gaza?

It’s time for Rep. Tim Kennedy to catch up to his own base and STOP providing arms and diplomatic cover for the Israeli state as it carries out ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.

Instead of taking AIPAC-backed vacations to Israel right now, Rep. Kennedy should be joining the nearly three dozen Democratic members of Congress who are co-sponsoring H.R. 3565, the “Block The Bombs” Act, that will finally cut off weapons that are enabling Israel’s war crimes.

Call Tim Kennedy’s office today and tell him: Ditch AIPAC, and instead follow the will of your constituents by cosponsoring H.R. 3565, and “Block the Bombs” that are enabling Israel’s war of genocide and starvation.

Tim Kennedy
DC: (202) 225-3306
Buffalo: (716) 852-3501

Address

420 Connecticut St
Buffalo, NY
14213

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