Why IfNotNow is endorsing Bernie Sanders for President.
This fight is not over. As much of the American Jewish and political establishment is uniting to stop his campaign and protect the status quo, we are called to get off the sidelines.
This fight is not over. As a movement of young Jews fighting for freedom and dignity for all, we are proud to be the first Jewish organization to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for President. We are inspired and moved to action by Bernie and the movement behind him, which deeply embodies the Jewish call to pursue justice and repair our broken world. As much of the American Jewish and political establishment is uniting to stop his campaign and protect the status quo, we are called to get off the sidelines.
IfNotNow Movement is led by young Jews to end American Jewish and political support for the Israeli occupation and transform our community in the process. Our members began organizing in 2014, amidst the violence of Israel’s third war on Gaza in six years. We have organized young Jews across the country to take on the out-of-touch establishment in our community, expand political awareness of the brutal realities of the Israeli military occupation, and give voice to the growing understanding that true safety for our people cannot and will not ever come at the cost of oppressing others, including the Palestinian people. During this election cycle, we have asked politicians to support consequences for the Israeli government’s violations of Palestinian rights. We believe that our tax dollars should be used to guarantee health care not to violate the rights of others abroad, and we have called for our government to stop funding the occupation through the billions in military funding we give the Israeli government each year. When we asked him to commit to stop funding the occupation last summer, Bernie enthusiastically agreed — and he has remained steadfast in that commitment ever since.
There is no doubt that the Trump era has raised the stakes of our work. As authoritarian leaders worldwide, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, stoke fear and incite violence to wage war on multiracial democracy, our own community is caught in the crosshairs. As Trump has given the Israeli government the green light to deepen its violent rule over the Palestinian people and formally annex the West Bank, he simultaneously incites antisemitic violence against our community, calls us disloyal for opposing him, and brandishes his support for Israel to attack progressive leaders of color. It has become more clear than ever that winning freedom and safety for Jews is inextricable from the fight for freedom and safety for Palestinians — at home and abroad.
And Bernie Sanders understands this profoundly. He has raised the bar in our national conversation by simply humanizing both Israelis and Palestinians and connecting his Jewish identity to the fight against racism and antisemitism here in the US. That is why more than 80 percent of our members voted to endorse Bernie, giving us a clear mandate to join the movement to elect him.
As a movement, we have never made a political endorsement. But this election is too important to stay neutral. We are proud to back the candidate who has consistently advocated for policies that match the scale of the problems our world faces. We are proud to back a Jewish leader who vigorously opposes both the rise of violent white nationalism and the Israeli military’s violent occupation of the Palestinian people. And we are proud to back the movement that exhibits both the courage to take on the corrupt establishment and the fortitude to win visionary solutions: from the Green New Deal to Medicare for All to ending America’s endless wars.
Rabbi Hillel’s three questions are IfNotNow’s call to action, and they also motivate our endorsement of Bernie Sanders and the #NotMeUs movement. If I am not for myself, who will be for me? We know Bernie will fight for young Jews against the biggest threats facing us — rising antisemitism, crushing student loan debt, and coming climate catastrophe. If I am only for myself, what am I? While the right weaponizes antisemitism to keep us divided, we, like Bernie, know that never again means never again for anyone. IfNotNow, when? The fight of our lifetimes — against Trump and white nationalism, against oppression at home and abroad — is right now, and we know that Bernie Sanders and the #NotMeUs movement is the best hope for a future with freedom and dignity for all people.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
We are part of a generation of Americans facing crushing student debt, the climate crisis, piles of medical bills, and the rising cost of living — and we are furious at leaders who refuse to act to protect our future. We are part of a generation of Jews for whom the rising antisemitism emboldened by Trump’s presidency evokes the darkest chapters of our people’s history. By standing up to the threats of white nationalism, while he stands up to the corporate 1 percent and fights for a Green New Deal and Medicare for All, Bernie has earned our trust that he is uniquely qualified to lead us towards a future where everyone, including us, has what they need to thrive.
We are Jews with diverse traditions and histories — from Morocco to Poland and Spain to Russia — and we recognize Bernie’s Jewishness, seeing ourselves in him and him in us. Bernie’s story is deeply familiar to many of us, whose families also came to this country as immigrants fleeing persecution and seeking economic opportunity. To some of us, he is a living reminder of the commitment to justice that our parents and grandparents lived out, from striking garment workers to marching Civil Rights activists. To others, he has helped lift up a stubbornly idealistic strand of Jewish tradition that we never knew — and one that our communal institutions have worked hard to suppress. The attacks on his Jewishness from those in our community are painfully familiar — they are in line with the delegitimization and ostracisation that many Jews dedicated to justice have faced for decades because of our commitment to Palestinian human rights and a more equitable society. To many of us, Bernie is the zeyde, the amo, the amak we never expected to be able to endorse for president of the United States of America.
If I am only for myself, what am I?
We have heard our entire lives that our safety as Jews is only possible through the dehumanization of the Palestinian people. This lie has been used to justify kicking Palestinians out of their homes and off their land, and it has contributed to our community’s alienation from other communities here at home. Bernie rejects the false choice between being a proud Jew and supporting Palestinian freedom. He has called for an end to Israel’s military occupation, the common sense position that for too long has been maligned in our national politics and by the self-appointed leaders of our community. As the Israeli government accelerates its dispossession and oppression of Palestinians, the need to fight for a different vision — of human rights and democracy — becomes even more urgent.
And who better to stand for that than Bernie, whose family was wiped out in the Holocaust, and whose commitment to justice for all people gives meaning to the call: “Never again for anyone.” This commitment is needed right now, as our government cages migrant children, bans Muslims from entering the country, spews lies and incitement against the most vulnerable in our society, smears Palestinians as terrorists and antisemites, and works to criminalize efforts to peacefully advance equality and human rights for all.
We know that the right weaponizes antisemitism to keep Americans divided, keep the rules rigged in their favor, and keep power in the hands of the few. They hide behind their alleged support for Israel to distract us and to weaken our fight for a world where all people can have clean air, a living wage, and quality health care. They accuse anyone who disagrees of antisemitism, as vile antisemitism festers within their ranks. We are clear that the way to fight antisemitism is to join with others, because none of us are free until all of us are free. Bernie’s campaign asks us all: “Are you willing to fight for someone you don’t even know as much as you are willing to fight for yourself?” Our answer is a resounding yes.
IfNotNow, when?
With our planet burning, authoritarian leaders fomenting violent hate that threatens democracy and human rights across the world, and Trump giving Israel a green light to formally annex the West Bank — permanently keeping Palestinians in a separate and deeply unequal reality — we know there is no such thing as going “back to normal.” A humane foreign policy is a necessary part of the America we are trying to win.
Right now, as much of the American Jewish and political establishments are coming together to protect the status quo, we are joining with other visionary grassroots organizations in the fight for the soul of our democracy, so all people can live with dignity. We know that no matter who is president, we will need to continue to mobilize our community to win a just future for all Palestinians and Israelis. We endorse Bernie not to delegate our work to him, nor to say that we agree with everything he says or does — our movement contains room for diversity and disagreement. Rather, our endorsement is a commitment to model what anti-occupation Jewish leadership looks like and to hold Bernie accountable as we work to transform our country. Our teachings in Pirkei Avot tell us: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” Our endorsement is a redoubling of our commitment to the work of repair and transformation.
The fight of our lifetimes — against Trump and white nationalism, against oppression and dispossession at home and abroad — is right now. And the movement that can win that fight is right here. We firmly believe that Bernie Sanders and the #NotMeUs movement is the best hope for a future with freedom and dignity for all people.
We will spend the next several weeks talking to American Jews and Democrats in states like Ohio, Illinois, and New York and making the case about why the status quo must change.
If you are want to join #JewsForBernie, sign up here: ifnotnowmovement.org/JewsForBernie
