Last year, Ramah alumni made a public effort to get Ramah camps to have a more nuanced education about Israel, including the realities of Israel’s military Occupation over millions of Palestinians. After a meeting with Rabbi Mitch Cohen, the National Director of Ramah, in which he refused to guarantee any systematic changes, these alumni transformed their investment in the community by welcoming and training a small number of counselors wanting to educate and discuss the occupation. The reaction to this training was immense — many articles were written and the National Ramah Commission released a statement calling the Ramah alumni who led the training anti semitic.

This year, in order to bring about real change at camp, we're trying something new. We are organizing a speaker tour with Combatants for Peace (CFP) — and need your support to show Ramah Camp Directors that this education is needed and popular.

Sign this petition and let Ramah directors know that you believe that Combatants for Peace should speak at Ramah camps this summer.

CFP is a group of Israeli and Palestinian former combatants who have laid down their weapons and are committed to the belief that the cycle of violence can only be broken when Israelis and Palestinians join forces. CFP works to both transform and resolve the conflict by ending Israel’s occupation and all forms of violence between the two sides and building a peaceful future for both peoples.

Weeks ago, Ramah alumni began fundraising for this CFP tour. We reached out to each Ramah Camp Director to allow the program, so that campers and counselors could get a first-hand education on one of the most important parts of modern Israel: the Occupation of Palestinian communities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

This is a positive example of how programming on the Occupation can be done at camp, that can be copied by any Jewish camp or educational institution across the country. As the largest Jewish camping network in the country, Ramah sets the tone for other camps in the United States.

So far, each and every Ramah Camp Director has refused to host Combatants for Peace.

Every summer, Ramah allows various speakers at camp from across the Jewish community, but are now refusing to allow Palestinians or anti-Occupation speakers to their camp. This silencing of these voices harms both campers and counselors, who end up not properly educated on the daily nightmare of Occupation. This lack of education is one of the core ways that the American Jewish community continues to support and uphold Israel’s Occupation.

We know that there are still weeks to go before Camps start and even more time before programming for the summer is finalized, so we still have a chance to have our voice be heard.

Will you join us? Sign this petition and let Ramah directors know that you believe that Combatants for Peace should speak at Ramah camps this summer.