IfNotNow’s “Liberation Seder” in New York on Wednesday began with a march from Bryant Park to the lobby of the Anti-Defamation League’s office building, and ended with the arrests of 17 protesters.
The New York action was one of five that took place from April 19-21 held by the Jewish anti-occupation group. IfNotNow was founded in the midst of Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and works to end the American Jewish community’s support of the occupation of Palestinians.
The decision to protest the ADL wasn’t an accident. Abe Foxman, a former national director of the ADL, was one of the prominent Jewish figures calling on the Bernie Sanders campaign to fire Jewish outreach director and IfNotNow cofounder Simone Zimmerman over a Facebook post made in March 2015. In the original post, Zimmerman called Benjamin Netanyahu a “arrogant, deceptive, cynical, manipulative asshole” and wrote, “Fuck you, Bibi … you sanctioned the murder of over 2,000 people this summer.”
Zimmerman’s hiring was announced April 12. On April 13, the Washington Free Beacon posted screenshots of her original and edited posts. On April 14, the Sanders campaign suspended her in order to “investigate” the posts, according to the New York Times.
Her hiring was controversial; her suspension sparked anger and disappointment at the Jewish establishment. In Haaretz, Peter Beinart wrote, “Exile those progressive young American Jews who genuinely care about the American Jewish community and watch who follows in their wake.”
Zimmerman was present at the protest; when one organizer giving a speech before the march said that the establishment had silenced her, she shouted, “No, they fucking didn’t!” to laughs and cheers.
Sarah Lerman-Sinkoff, a spokesperson for IfNotNow, told New Voices that the Liberation Seder action was partly because the organization believes that Jewish liberation is not complete without liberation of Palestinians — and partly in response to what had happened to Zimmerman.
“We are here protesting a Jewish establishment that would rather silence its leaders that are trying to bring human dignity to all Palestinian and Israelis,” Lerman-Sinkoff said.
“Bernie Sanders naming Simone was a huge victory. It reflects the fact that the establishment leaders are out of touch with a new generation of Jews that are working to bring freedom and dignity to all,” they added.
“That was a huge win for us. It was a visionary choice for the Sanders campaign to choose Simone Zimmerman, and the establishment’s response is short-sighted and destructive.”
The protest started with a quiet march to the office building on 3rd Ave. Upon arriving just before 5 p.m., protesters gathered near the lobby’s reception desk, with building security telling people not to block the doors and eventually cordoning off the group.
There, some held banners in the windows facing the street, some held signs, and others led the group in singing and chanting. At one point, the protesters rose from where they were seated on the floor and began to sing and dance around the lobby, pushing away the ropes that had been set up earlier by security.
.@IfNotNowOrg, there’s more we agree on than disagree on.
Let’s talk about it. When are you free?
— ADL (@ADL_National) April 20, 2016
Just before 6 p.m., the organizers told the crowd that anyone who didn’t want to be arrested should leave the building. The police had arrived about twenty minutes earlier and been informed by liaisons who wanted to be arrested. Around 6:30, the arrests began, and 17 protesters joined the ranks of six who had been arrested the day before at AIPAC’s offices in Boston (and Elijah).
According to ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the ADL had no role in the arrests. Greenblatt criticized IfNotNow for not “[contacting] us about their intended visit or [engaging] us in any meaningful dialogue” and for rejecting the ADL’s offer to meet.
In a statement issued today by IfNotNow, the organization said it had appreciated the ADL’s offer but members “can no longer stomach endless negotiations with establishment leaders about what we are allowed to say about Israel’s denial of Palestinian civil, economic, and political rights.”
Tfw you’re in the back of a NYPD van trying to start a movement against the establishment’s support for occupation pic.twitter.com/FRoV3tSBDZ
— IfNotNow (@IfNotNowOrg) April 20, 2016
Zimmerman’s suspension wasn’t the only issue that brought people to IfNotNow. Sophie Lasoff, an undergraduate student at NYU, said she’d grown up in a non-practicing family and become involved with IfNotNow as a way to “touch base” with her family’s Jewish roots.
“Since I’ve gotten involved in If Not Now I’ve really felt more Jewish than I ever have in my whole life, because I feel like the Judaism that really speaks to me is a Judaism that stands for justice and dignity for all people,” Lasoff said.
“I know that I have a lot of friends who are against the occupation who are Jewish and they often feel like they’re isolated in their views or within their family or within their peers,” she added. “I really want them to be able to participate and get involved, and find a home in this movement like I have.”
Chloe Sobel graduated from Queen’s University and is editor in chief of New Voices.
