Dear AIPAC:

We are AIPAC supporters, pro-Israel advocates, AIPAC Policy Conference attendees, former AIPAC campus advocates and interns, and former employees. For over a week now, protests and outrage over George Floyd’s unjust murder have taken hold of the world, and we have waited for AIPAC to reaffirm its support for the lives, safety, and equality of its Black activists and activists of color, as countless other organizations have done. We have waited to no avail. 

AIPAC’s silence is loud and glaring. 

AIPAC stands largely alone in a crowd of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations who have loudly and proudly reaffirmed their promise to fight against the injustices and systemic racism that affects the Black community on a daily basis. A private email to AIPAC’s Black members and a retweet of a statement that AIPAC was not a part of is insufficient. AIPAC should be publicly vocal at a time when speaking up is the very least that should be done. 

AIPAC dedicates itself to outreach to HBCUs and Black political leaders. How can AIPAC engage Black activists and not vocally support the livelihood of their communities? Speaking out against racism and injustice should not require a balancing of political interests. 

We expect AIPAC to acknowledge the pain and suffering of the Black community. That the arrest of Derek Chauvin is only a first step in the fight to secure justice for George Floyd and his family and address the issue of racial injustice in America. That there is a need for systemic change to address racism as a stain on American society. That there are Black Jews who experience discrimination on the basis of both of their identities. That disparities exist between Black and white Americans in education, health care, employment, opportunity, life expectancy, income, and so on. That all people are created equal, and America cannot rest until this promise is fully realized for Black Americans. That Black lives unequivocally and unconditionally matter. 

For many of us, AIPAC taught us how to be advocates. AIPAC taught us how to stand up for what we believe in and what we know is right. We have taken what we learned to heart and we know that we do not get to stand for what is right only when it suits us. AIPAC cannot look away. It has a responsibility to meet this moment, regardless of comfort or personal expediency. 

We speak out because our country’s collective history of racism continues to shape the contemporary reality of every Black American in this country. As a pro-Israel organization, who else would know better about the lasting effects hatred has on a community?

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”

AIPAC expends all possible efforts for one single goal that benefits their own mission while failing to stand up for its allies in their crucial time of need. 

“If I am only for myself, what am I?” 

But AIPAC forgets that alone, we are nothing. AIPAC cannot make the changes it wishes to see by solely focusing inward. Rather, it needs support from political allies across the spectrum. If AIPAC chooses to remain silent and only stand for itself in this moment of national reckoning, it risks losing the very allies and supporters who make it the strong, diverse group we know it to be. 

“And if not now, when?”

 

Signed,