Add your name — Jews Say: Trump Endangers All of Us
U.S. Congress
We invite members of the Jewish community — individuals and organizations alike — to sign this open letter opposing the Trump administration’s dangerous and antidemocratic plans to (a) take over and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and (b) deport non-citizens who protest on campus here in the United States. No one's name will be shared publicly without express consent.
Many Jewish organizations have separately spoken out against the ethnic cleansing plan or his crackdown on protesters. With this letter, we aim to draw attention to the fact that Trump’s executive order that purports to be about combating antisemitism is lifted from the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther and is a thinly-veiled measure to suppress opposition to his inhumane and violent plans for Palestinians in Gaza.
These twin policies will put Palestinians and immigrants in danger and will do nothing to make Israelis or Jews safer.
To add your synagogue, organization, or group to this letter, go here.
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To:
U.S. Congress
From:
[Your Name]
We are Jewish community members, leaders, organizations, and synagogues united in our commitment to honoring the humanity and dignity of all people created b'tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d. We call on you, our elected leaders, to reject the Trump administration’s illegal proposal to expel two million Palestinians from Gaza, and to reject the administration’s implementation of the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther — its companion to Project 2025 — which is nothing more than an assault on our civil liberties under the guise of fighting antisemitism.
Jewish tradition teaches us that every life is an entire universe. Every life destroyed is an entire world extinguished. Ethnic cleansing and deportations will extinguish many lives, many universes. And they do not do what Trump claims: they will not make anyone — including Israelis and Jews — safe. Instead, these actions set a dangerous precedent for eroding human rights around the world and civil liberties at home. Jews have historically thrived when human and civil rights are protected, and Trump’s agenda emboldens antisemitism. This is a clear attempt to divide us from our neighbors. We refuse to be divided.
The administration’s declarations suggest that Palestinian safety and freedom are a direct threat to the safety of Israelis and Jews. We reject that. Our tears are abundant enough, and our hearts are big enough, to grieve for every life taken — every universe destroyed — whether Israeli or Palestinian. Our hearts ache for the over 1,100 Israelis killed on October 7th and the hundreds taken hostage. We grieve for the over 60,000 — and likely tens of thousands more — Palestinians massacred in the 15 months following. Our hearts have been so shattered in the past year; we cannot imagine more heartbreak.
Expelling two million people from Gaza would be a horrific act of ethnic cleansing that would cause irreparable harm to Palestinians reeling from over a year of devastation. Trump’s plan builds on decades of occupation, apartheid, and siege that have denied Palestinians their basic dignity and rights, and it would put the tenuous ceasefire at risk, endangering millions across the region.
There is another way. We know that freedom for Palestinians will make the world better for all. We need one another: Israelis and Jews cannot be safe if Palestinians are not safe and free.
We have seen how this administration emboldens antisemitic extremists: pardoning January 6th insurrectionists, many of whom are proud neo-Nazis; nominating extremist Christian Zionists to key positions in the administration who believe that supporting Israel is necessary to bring about the End Times, when Jews, Muslims and all other non-Christians will have to either convert to Christianity or face eternal damnation; and embracing Elon Musk as he performs Nazi salutes. The Trump administration’s so-called plan to fight antisemitism, Project Esther, was authored by the Heritage Foundation, which has deep ties to Christian nationalists and white supremacists. The authors of the plan have even spread antisemitic tropes as they promote their dangerous plan.
We do not trust the Trump administration to safeguard our country or our community. We call on you to do everything in your power to impede it.
We will be safe when our neighbors are safe; our neighbors will be safe when we are safe. There is no other way. We implore you to act now to block President Trump’s dangerous vision.