DJJ is sometimes asked to make statements and join campaigns for justice in Israel/Palestine. This policy articulates how our Core Principles and Theory of Change guide those decisions.
Palestinians and Israelis deserve freedom and dignity
DJJ envisions a just and joyful future where we and our neighbors live with equal rights, dignity, safety, and access to the resources we all need to thrive. We extend this vision to all who struggle for freedom and dignity in Israel/Palestine amid ongoing violence, displacement and occupation – as well as to all people facing growing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism worldwide.1 DJJ organizes for co-liberation.2 Co-liberation means we have a shared stake in dismantling all systems of oppression: fighting for justice and equity alongside our neighbors is the only way to achieve lasting safety for everyone.
We need all of us to achieve transformative local policy wins
DJJ’s mission is to advance racial and economic justice by developing Metro Detroit Jews as community organizers who fight for transformative policy change in deep partnership with our neighbors. Big tents are hard, but necessary to build power for our movements. DJJ is a place where all Jews with a range of politics and relationships to Israel/Palestine come to fight for justice in Detroit. If you are committed to our vision for justice, affirm the humanity of all people, and are willing to learn and grow, you are welcome at DJJ. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism – as well as racism and bigotry in any form – are never welcome.
We fight white supremacy in all its forms – including antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism – in mutually accountable relationships
Pitting Jews against our neighbors is a longstanding tool of antisemitism and white supremacy. This makes us all less safe because it weakens our power to fight collectively for safety and justice for everyone.3 DJJ empowers our leaders to build relationships that can work through complexity and conflict, acknowledge differences in power and lived experiences, and work together to fight for co-liberation. We challenge binary thinking that forces us to choose the safety and rights of one community over another. We are committed to teshuva4, or repair, when our statements, actions, or inactions cause harm. We hold our non-Jewish partners accountable to understanding and fighting antisemitism.5 Similarly, we hold our Jewish partners accountable to disrupting islamophobia and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism – particularly when bad faith accusations of antisemitism are used to silence those advocating for Palestinian human rights.
We are focused on local policy change, but we are connected to movements for justice in Israel/Palestine
Israel/Palestine is not a core focus of our organizing, but we know it greatly impacts our community and our work. Our ability to organize for local justice issues is impacted by U.S. politics on Israel/Palestine, including efforts to discredit progressive leaders of color, growing police brutality and repression, and increased antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism. As a tiny organization, we can’t do it all. Here’s how we relate: (1) We do not silence our staff and leaders when they draw connections between Israel/Palestine and our local work. We embrace learning from one another. (2) DJJ is a space where leaders can share information from other movements. We hope that as folks organize with us, they find relationships and onramps into other justice work. (3) DJJ occasionally partners with organizations working for justice in Israel/Palestine when campaigns directly focus on the local progressive policy space and/or target antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism in our communities.
1 Article on the distinction between Islamaphobia and Anti-Palestinian Racism
2 One of our teachers in Detroit, Tawana "Honeycomb" Petty, offers the invitation to "move from ally-ship towards co-liberation, with the belief that we can only make systemic change if we understand our liberation is tied up with one another's."
3 Understanding Antisemitism: An Offering to our Movement
4 Tshuva in the context of multi-racial, Jewish organizing
5 DJJ’s current statement on antisemitism will be updated by the end of 2024.
