Contra el "Bluewashing": llamado de Jewish Voice for Peace

We are writing to tell you about a new word, "bluewashing."

bluewash. (verb): the use of Jewish culture, religion, and heritage to try to cover up human rights abuses of Palestinians, while endangering the lives of Jews in Israel and around the world.

To those of us who are GLBTQ, this is nothing new -- Israel has been using sexuality in its propaganda to hide the occupation, in what we call "pinkwashing." It's time to see through the hype and speak out against "bluewashing" as Jews.

One of the worst offenders in bluewashing is AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC purports to be the "pro-Israel lobby," but is in fact a powerful lobby for weapons manufacturers. AIPAC wields political power through cloaking itself in Jewishness, giving many, including our Congresspeople, the incorrect impression that it speaks for all Jewish Americans.

As young Jewish Americans we are stating publicly that this is not true: AIPAC does not speak for us. We hope you will join us in bringing this message to AIPAC as part of the upcoming Move Over AIPAC gathering May 21-24 in Washington, DC. In addition to AIPAC’s die-hard supporters, AIPAC's conference going on at the same time will include more than 1,000 college students representing over 300 campuses from all 50 states. Young, Jewish, and Proud will be part of a coalition of poets, artists, well-known activists and authors, and over 100 peace and justice groups in DC to make sure AIPAC can't "bluewash" these students.

In Egypt, in Tunisia, in "Arab Spring" revolutions the righteous and understandable demand was "Leave!" Ours is to "move over!" We are gathering to shout: Move over AIPAC and recognize our diverse Jewish communities and identities for what they are! We are Young, Jewish, and Proud and we won't let AIPAC "bluewash" furthering the Israeli Occupation and denying human rights to Palestinians.
To show this visually, we ask you-- young, proud Jews-- to join us in sharing what makes you YJP and why AIPAC doesn't represent you. Take your picture wearing blue and fill out the simple sentences: "I'm Young, Jewish, and Proud because...[say why] and AIPAC doesn't represent me." Whether you can join us in DC or not, we will bring your images and your words to AIPAC, for their conference in Washington, DC. For those of you who do not identify as young (up to age 36), proud Jews: we will have an action coming soon for you to show your support. Please pass this email on to any young, proud Jews you know.

Whether virtually, through your online submissions of words and images, or physically in DC—we look forward to standing with you in demanding that AIPAC move over and make room for a new Middle East policy.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Klaasen & Mark Gunnery
Young, Jewish, and Proud