Support Jews for Radical Liberation (JRL) in our mission to provide an alternative Jewish space on Case Western Reserve University’s campus. 

Jews for Radical Liberation began in the spring of 2024 from a group of students discouraged by the available Jewish spaces on our university campus. We felt that the only options for Jewish community were also spaces for extreme Zionist sentiment and Israeli affiliation. Our new organization was built on a foundation of solidarity to liberation movements across the globe. We recognize the important relationship between the Jewish practice of tikkun olam, healing the world, and advocacy for Palestinian freedom. 

JRL has been able to build bridges between social justice, Judaism, and community building, through community action, on-campus Shabbat and holiday services, as well as educational material such as a teach-in on Jewish alternatives to Zionism. Over the past year, we have brought together people from diverse backgrounds and faiths to host multi-cultural dinners and discussions. Importantly, we have been able to create a space for ourselves to practice our faith without feeling misrepresented. This has not come without challenges. The university has done nothing to uphold their advertised mission of encouraging diversity, and, instead, has put up barriers for us to pursue our positive mission. 

JRL applied for recognition from the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and was rejected under the reason for being “too cultural.” This is blatant hypocrisy as the campus Hillel and Chabad organizations are recognized under USG and receive school funding. These orgs are inherently cultural, and have received limitless university support. Chabad recently hosted a Shabbat with IDF combatants, explicitly aligning themselves with the Israeli military force that is responsible for the lives of thousands of Palestinians. The university made no moves to acknowledge and rectify this extreme and threatening message of university affiliation to a foreign military. Instead, they continue to encourage and fund these organizations, and silence student-led community building initiatives.

We submitted an appeal to the USG decision explaining how we were more than a cultural organization, but a rich space for dialogue, learning, outreach, and advocacy. We received the same complaint that our organization is not a good “fit” for USG, and got rejected again. 

Help us show the university that JRL is valued and needed on campus, and that their hypocrisy is not going unnoticed.