The following was delivered by Kadima member Dalya Perez at the entrance to the Space Needle on 11/19/23 as part of a JVP action to shut down the Space Needle and hold a program where BIPOCSM leaders -- Jews and non-Jews shared their powerful thoughts about the current moment. Shared here with Dalya's permission.
My name is Dalya Perez, I'm a Filipina Egyptian Jew, a scholar, a senior product manager for accessibility in a large tech company , and I was born and currently live in Seattle on coast Salish, duwamish land. I have been in anguish and anger at the devastation and loss of life every day of this bloody war. I’m the mom of two kids. My heart is broken open by the daily images of innocent Palestinians and children killed senselessly, this attack must stop. It gives me so much hope to be in the streets with all of you collectively demanding ceasefire demanding an end to Israel's war crimes funded by our tax dollars.
I am a Jew whose grandfather was born in Palestine.
My great grandfather was born and buried in Jaffa, pre state of Israel. My family coexisted as Arab Jews in North Africa and the Middle East peacefully before the Zionist state.
I am a Sephardic and Mizrahi and trace my roots back to Jews who were exiled from Spain. The diaspora, persecution, and antisemitism of Jews is real. We are a people deserving of safety but The military occupation state of Israel was not and will never be the solution for our safety.
It's true that Jews have ancient and indigenous ties to the Fertile Crescent, it's the birthplace of so many faiths.
It's also true that the statehood of Israel was operationalized through a colonial violent overtaking and displacement of Palestinians who are also indigenous to this land.
We must hold both things.
Zionism came out of a need for safety and sovereignty for Jews, but the impact was harm and trauma for Palestinians.
We must hold both things.
I can condemn the oppressive military and government of Israel and still love Israeli people.
There are Israelis demanding ceasefire. Some of them the survivors of attacks on Oct. 7th, many of them censored and silenced.
We will not be silenced. Not in my name.
Many people critique the call for ceasefire.
"Ceasefire and then what?" They ask.
I have heard the critique that a ceasefire means I want Jews and Israel exterminated.
That calling Israelis colonizers means they need to be deported.
Actually the movement calling for ceasefire is FULL of people who want democracy.
Ceasefire means we stop the attack on people in Gaza and provide humanitarian aid, food, water and the right to return home to innocent children and families.
We stand with Rashida Tlaib’s calls to hear the cries of Palestinian children as the same as all children.
Ceasefire is the most immediate basic next step. It should happen NOW.
What is our shared vision of what happens next?
How do we dismantle illegal occupation of Palestine? What does a new constitution look like that dismantles apartheid? How do we be pragmatic about the need for a safe coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians?
We will never be the same after this war.
This is a great reckoning.
There is fundamentalism on both sides. But there is a great asymmetry in who has structural power, and funding.
Sen Murray oversees our national budget as chair of appropriations.
This US ties to Israel are entrenched in power, in racism, and in imperialism.
This is OUR tax dollars. Stop funding Israel’s military. Not one more cent to this genocide.
Our liberation as Jews is bound in the liberation of Palestinians.
Our safety as Jews is bound to the safety of Palestinians
It’s time for reparations to Palestinians.
Jewish Voice for Peace and Kadima are my safe harbors and moral compasses. This is what being on the right side of history looks like. We are Jews fighting for liberation for Palestine. This is what it means to live in Jewish values.
CeasefireNOW. let Gaza live. Not in my name.
My name is Dalya Perez, I'm a Filipina Egyptian Jew, a scholar, a senior product manager for accessibility in a large tech company , and I was born and currently live in Seattle on coast Salish, duwamish land. I have been in anguish and anger at the devastation and loss of life every day of this bloody war. I’m the mom of two kids. My heart is broken open by the daily images of innocent Palestinians and children killed senselessly, this attack must stop. It gives me so much hope to be in the streets with all of you collectively demanding ceasefire demanding an end to Israel's war crimes funded by our tax dollars.
I am a Jew whose grandfather was born in Palestine.
My great grandfather was born and buried in Jaffa, pre state of Israel. My family coexisted as Arab Jews in North Africa and the Middle East peacefully before the Zionist state.
I am a Sephardic and Mizrahi and trace my roots back to Jews who were exiled from Spain. The diaspora, persecution, and antisemitism of Jews is real. We are a people deserving of safety but The military occupation state of Israel was not and will never be the solution for our safety.
It's true that Jews have ancient and indigenous ties to the Fertile Crescent, it's the birthplace of so many faiths.
It's also true that the statehood of Israel was operationalized through a colonial violent overtaking and displacement of Palestinians who are also indigenous to this land.
We must hold both things.
Zionism came out of a need for safety and sovereignty for Jews, but the impact was harm and trauma for Palestinians.
We must hold both things.
I can condemn the oppressive military and government of Israel and still love Israeli people.
There are Israelis demanding ceasefire. Some of them the survivors of attacks on Oct. 7th, many of them censored and silenced.
We will not be silenced. Not in my name.
Many people critique the call for ceasefire.
"Ceasefire and then what?" They ask.
I have heard the critique that a ceasefire means I want Jews and Israel exterminated.
That calling Israelis colonizers means they need to be deported.
Actually the movement calling for ceasefire is FULL of people who want democracy.
Ceasefire means we stop the attack on people in Gaza and provide humanitarian aid, food, water and the right to return home to innocent children and families.
We stand with Rashida Tlaib’s calls to hear the cries of Palestinian children as the same as all children.
Ceasefire is the most immediate basic next step. It should happen NOW.
What is our shared vision of what happens next?
How do we dismantle illegal occupation of Palestine? What does a new constitution look like that dismantles apartheid? How do we be pragmatic about the need for a safe coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians?
We will never be the same after this war.
This is a great reckoning.
There is fundamentalism on both sides. But there is a great asymmetry in who has structural power, and funding.
Sen Murray oversees our national budget as chair of appropriations.
This US ties to Israel are entrenched in power, in racism, and in imperialism.
This is OUR tax dollars. Stop funding Israel’s military. Not one more cent to this genocide.
Our liberation as Jews is bound in the liberation of Palestinians.
Our safety as Jews is bound to the safety of Palestinians
It’s time for reparations to Palestinians.
Jewish Voice for Peace and Kadima are my safe harbors and moral compasses. This is what being on the right side of history looks like. We are Jews fighting for liberation for Palestine. This is what it means to live in Jewish values.
CeasefireNOW. let Gaza live. Not in my name.
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