Fighting for the rights of asylum seekers in Israel -- calls, donations, demonstrations
E. Wei
This was sent to me by an activist Rabbi, in case you want to take this action for the refugees in Israel....
Please
heed the call below to help African asylum seekers in Israel -- below
you'll find lots of things you can do and lots of ways to learn more.
________PLEASE FORWARD_________
From T'ruah, Shalom Center, and neohasid.org: Call your Israeli embassy or consulate to say, "Don't deport African refugees!"
Ask Israel to live up to its obligations as a Jewish and democratic state. The government has already started to imprison asylum seekers who refuse to leave the country, and those at Holot detention center started a hunger strike earlier this week in protest. No individual should be deported until they have their claim for asylum reviewed.
Embassies and Consulates in North America:
Washington, D.C.: 202-364-5500
Atlanta: 404-487-6500 (Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina)
Boston: 617-535-0200 (New England)
Chicago: 312-380-8800 (Midwest)
Houston: 832-301-3500 (Southwest)
Los Angeles: 323-852-5500 (Arizona, Southern California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming)
Miami: 305-925-9400 (Florida and Puerto Rico)
New York: 212-499 5000 (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut)
San Francisco: 415-844-7500 (Pacific Northwest)
Montreal: 514-940-8525
Ottawa: 832-301-3500
Toronto: 416-640-8500 (Ontario and Western Provinces)
(If you can’t get through by phone, or are looking for other countries, see below.**)
Sample Script (adapted from Truah and Arthur Waskow)
"My name is ________ and I'm calling because as a Jew/person/rabbi/cantor who cares about Israel, I am asking Israel to stop plans to deport African people who have sought refuge in Israel without fairly evaluating their asylum claims. The Jewish people have been refugees too many times to deny these individuals basic rights. Society's obligation to care for the stranger and refugee is a foundations of Judaism. As a Jewish state, Israel should welcome refugees, not imprison them. I'm asking Israel at the very least to process asylum claims using the same criteria that other countries do. Thank you."
After you’ve made your call, you can log it on Truah's website at http://action.truah.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25890 ; you can also notify the Shalom Center by email at Refugees@theshalomcenter.org. Ask friends to do the same.
Do more:
Demonstration "Against Deportation; For South Tel Aviv" -- Saturday night, 2/24/12018, 8 PM, Levinsky St. Tel Aviv
One way to support the refugees is by giving to Unitaf (https://www.unitaf.org).
Another is to give to the Hotline for Refugees and Immigrants (https://secured.israelgives.org/donate/hotline).
Go to this Miklat Israel's fb page (https://www.facebook.com/MiklatIsrael/) to support the movement to provide home sanctuary to asylum seekers.
Learn more:
"First seven asylum seekers refusing deportation are imprisoned"
(https://www.timesofisrael.com/first-seven-asylum-seekers-refusing-deportation-are-imprisoned/)
"How Did Israel Become a Place of No Refuge?"
(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/opinion/israel-refugees-africa.html)
"30,000 African migrants hold silent march, rally in Tel Aviv"
(https://www.timesofisrael.com/african-migrants-stage-work-strike-silent-march-in-tel-aviv/)
"Everything You Need to Know About Israel's Mass Deportation of Asylum Seekers"
To contact T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights: off...@truah.org
266 West 37th Street, Suite 803, New York, NY 10018 • (212) 845-5201
**For Israeli Embassies and Consulates around the world: http://embassies.gov.il/Pages/IsraeliMissionsAroundTheWorld.aspx, look up the consulate, and go to its “Contact Us” page. For example, for New York, go to: http://embassies.gov.il/new-york/AboutTheEmbassy/Pages/contact-us.aspx
Thank you for staying in touch with neohasid.org! Neohasid is dedicated to sharing an embodied Judaism in touch with our bodies and the Earth, connected to dance and song and Spirit, fulfilling the messianic promise that our deepest wellsprings must reach "beyond" to include all humanity and all Life.