Please share what motivated you to sign the staff petition, and/or any thoughts you have about the ACLU’s role in this moment. by Jennifer Reyes

2024-09-30 17:59:51 UTC

I signed the petition because I am Jewish and have been anti-Zionist for 20 years years. Human rights are a critical aspect of the ACLU's work and how we -- the US -- are complicit in the genocide of Palestinians is something we must confront.

nzaf2424 — 2024-09-30 18:11:49 UTC

I signed because as the country's premier civil rights organization that works to hold the US government accountable, we have a responsibility to speak out as our government facilitates what history will record as a genocide. Our voice carries immense weight, and as a large well-resourced organization, we have the privilege and platform few others have. The fight for Palestinian freedom and dignity is the moral issue of our time, and I want the ACLU to be on the right side of history.

2024-09-30 18:27:34 UTC

I signed because the only way to stop the violence in Gaza is to declare a ceasefire. ACLU has sway and should not make excuses for failing to loudly call out the injustice, violence, and brutality that is being perpetrated with the blessing of our government.

2024-09-30 18:43:07 UTC

I signed because the ACLU isn't new to moments like these! I count on us to the be voice of rights for all.

2024-09-30 19:06:46 UTC

I signed because the ACLU needs to step up as a progressive organization to take a stance on this issue, one that not only affects the ACLU's core mission but also a horrific event that requires everyone to step up beyond fear and conflict- and risk-aversion

2024-09-30 19:09:59 UTC

I signed because I was sickened by what was happening and felt that I needed to leverage my privilege within an organization like the ACLU to shine a light on the disproportionate violence being inflicted on non-combatants.

2024-09-30 19:10:00 UTC

I signed to do everything I can to stop this ongoing genocide. I also signed because the ACLU should stand by their values of protecting civil liberties and rights, for people in this country and everywhere by helping to end apartheid in Palestine.

2024-09-30 19:10:38 UTC

I signed because it is the right thing to do and, as a proud Jewish staff member, I want us to be on the right side of history.

I also believe that these asks are directly in ACLU's lane and critical to our mission. This war is not only made possible by US support, but also the free speech repression it has spurred, makes this a uniquely important moment for the ACLU to engage on.

Finally, I signed because I'm worried that if we stop defending international law and the few human rights laws that our country has supported/passed, we are missing a critical opportunity to move the needle on this issue.

2024-09-30 19:12:19 UTC

I signed because every voice matters when it comes to stopping genocide and war, and the ACLU has a loud voice that it needs to use.

2024-09-30 19:12:36 UTC

Because I believe in a free palestine and freedom for all oppressed peoples, not just when it's convenient, and whether or not it "fits" with the ACLU purview

2024-09-30 19:14:08 UTC

I didn’t sign the petition because I believe the domestic focus of the ACLU is an appropriate and already very broad mission. But I am interested in hearing others’ views today.

2024-09-30 19:15:58 UTC

I signed because the ACLU has not shied away from speaking on controversial (though I don't believe genocide should be controversial) topics in the past and should do the same now (white supremacists, NRA, etc.)! As an org that already speaks about human rights, I am shocked that we haven't made a public statement yet. The ACLU also has a huge following and a statement like this would make an impact and I believe we would be able to deal with any blowback in a better way than other smaller orgs as we have when taking other "controversial" stances.

2024-09-30 19:20:57 UTC

I signed on because I want to take every opportunity to speak out against the unconscionable murder and human rights violation against the Palestinian people. I must not stay silent, and I do not believe the ACLU can stay silent in the face of this genocide.

2024-09-30 19:24:07 UTC

It’s the right thing to do, and people power is absolutely necessary right now. The lobbying powers of AIPAC and others that push for US’s continued support of Israel’s policies of apartheid and aggression are absolutely formidable. I don’t know how else to counteract those powers in the immediate future other than to engage in people power and organizing.

Did I hesitate in signing the petition? No – I was grateful for the leadership of the folks who started this petition.

However, to get to this point, there were a lot of questions that I had to navigate – and I want to mention them here because I think these are the questions many people have – and some folks weaponized to create silence:

- If I criticize Israel’s aggression in Gaza, am I condoning Hama’s atrocities on Oct 7?

- The Holocaust caused so much suffering and harm to Jewish people. How do I navigate this historical atrocity, including its impacts, as I take a position on current events involving Israel?

- If I criticize Israel, will some folks interpret that as anti-semitism?

- I’m not Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, or Israeli. What is my appropriate role here?

- This situation is really intense, and there may be backlash. Will me speaking up matter? Is it worth the discomfort and potential backlash?

I think we should be asking ourselves and each other questions like this. I also want to note – we may make mistakes or missteps, and we need to be open to being called in and doing better when that happens.

But this is the truth and value I try to return to: I remember very clearly first learning about the Holocaust when I was in school – probably middle school. And I remember very specifically thinking during a class: How did people let the Holocaust happen? I would have fought to stop it." I try to remember my values as a kid and continue to live by those values now.

2024-09-30 19:27:42 UTC

I signed on because our struggles as Indigenous people are connected. I recognize the connection between the settler colonial state of Israel and the settler colonial state of the USA, and I stand with Palestine

2024-09-30 19:29:20 UTC

I signed because even though this atrocity is happening internationally, it DOES also affect us here. When our leadership supports unimaginable violence overseas, ignores clear human rights violations, and uses OUR citizens' money to provide resources that kill innocent people - it IS our business. It is a human rights crisis. We cannot be complicit and silent in a genocide.

rahmed66 — 2024-09-30 19:31:03 UTC

Human rights should not be conditional. This is genocide. This is apartheid. I do not want to be complicit.

2024-09-30 19:32:28 UTC

I signed the petition because, besides not having a reason to not sign the petition, the U.S. is breaking international law with U.S. taxpayers dollars, while allowing universities and law enforcement to restrict the rights of our own residents who speak out against the U.S.’s role in committing genocide against the Palestinian people (and Lebanese). On a personal level, I stand with all people who are oppressed. I do not support genocide, colonialism, imperialism, or apartheid. 🇵🇸

2024-09-30 19:35:55 UTC

I signed the petition because silence is complicity, especially in the safety and privilege that I hold at the ACLU. From our offices and board rooms, we question the "place" that opposing a genocide would have in our charter, meanwhile souls are indiscriminately destroyed every minute of everyday. It would be hypocritical to say that I work at the ACLU because I stand for the rights of people everywhere while not accusing our government of what we all know - the United States is complicit in this genocide, and as long as US weapons continue to murder Palestinians, we are all complicit in our silence.

2024-09-30 19:40:43 UTC

I signed because genocide is wrong, full stop, and the ACLU needs to add its loud and powerful voice to the debate. Silence is complicity. I've been sickened by a public narrative espoused by powerful institutions and policymakers that justifies America's support of this genocide, frames domestic protest on behalf of the human rights of Palestinians as the "problem," and actively works to silence dissent. I believe this is a domestic issue well within the purview of the ACLU because the U.S. is supporting this genocide. But I would expect the ACLU to take a stand on behalf of human rights throughout the world irrespective of U.S. complicity.

2024-09-30 19:46:11 UTC

I signed the petition because I am the child and grandchild of survivors of the jim crow south. I joined the ACLU to prevent the kinds of legalized subjugation my family experienced for everyone.

2024-09-30 19:48:09 UTC

I signed for my Palestinian friends here and abroad in Jordan and Israel. They deserve support just as much as all other vulnerable communities

2024-09-30 19:49:39 UTC

I signed the petition because I, as a middle- and high-schooler, deeply admired the ACLU's work to counter the U.S.'s violation of civil liberties, civil rights and human rights after 9/11. The ACLU was, in many ways, a beacon of light showing me how I could stick to my principles and values while engaging in difficult social justice work. Like the post-9/11 era, I think we are facing another such moment in the U.S. The U.S. government is violating many domestic and international laws through the provision of weapons, military aid, and diplomatic cover to Israel. There is widespread repression of dissent across all levels of government and the private and public sector, the tactics of which can easily be turned against all social justice movements (including racial justice, gender justice, free speech, privacy, immigrant's rights, etc.). We are witnessing an immense loss of life and livelihoods, destruction of futures and possibilities, and incredible racism. The ACLU has an obligation--both moral and mission-related--to take a stand against U.S. complicity in Israel's human rights violations. It also cannot and should not fund its operations or work from money that is derived from human right violations. Like the post-9/11 era, history will judge the ACLU for the position it takes on U.S. complicity in Palestinian human rights, especially as Israel commits a genocide in Gaza and actively expands its genocidal violence to the West Bank and Lebanon. I hope that the organization that I have so looked up to will choose the right side of history.

2024-09-30 19:52:31 UTC

I signed the petition because I took this job to work for an organization that holds the United States government accountable when it infringes on the rights that all people are endowed with. Our government is committing and abetting violations of these rights, both domestically and abroad.

2024-09-30 19:53:26 UTC

I continue to be appalled by the actions of the Israeli government and that Netanyahu is ignoring the will of his own people to stop the slaughter of the Palestinian people. I was reading an article about the latest bombardment of Lebanon stated that the U.S. was not involved in this battle. What? Whose money do you think Israel is using to purchase these weapons of destruction. I think so many of us feel powerless as do I but to know that there are so many smart people involved in trying to get the U.S. Government to officially condemn the IDF and to stop paying for and shipping weapons to Israel. What I would hope for is that some very powerful Jewish Americans would also speak up and condemn Netanyahu.

2024-09-30 19:53:42 UTC

I signed because we are all directly complicit in the ongoing atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond. The US government has, using our tax dollars, provided limitless and unconditional support for this genocide. Every fresh horror that pops up on our screens has our fingerprints all over it. Those bombs that we see dropping are our bombs — and we're still sending them. There are a thousand reasons for the ACLU to take this stance but none is more important than the fundamental moral imperative. This is the greatest US-sponsored atrocity since the Iraq War and history has already shamed us for our inaction. It will take decades to reckon fully with the destruction we have wrought over the last year. We cannot afford to waste another second in silence.

2024-09-30 20:03:19 UTC

I signed the petition because the national office needs to know our supporters are also our staff and signatories of this petition are not unrepresentative of the population who help us thrive. Additionally, I've seen donors distance themselves from the ACLU simply for the Palestinian rights work we've done thus far; work that was essential and mission aligned. If the ACLU decides that was our only contribution to the global conversation, then these losses were in vain. We either make a concerted commitment to justice, or we don't deserve to talk about protecting Palestinian rights.

2024-09-30 20:15:25 UTC

I signed because I believe in collective intersectional struggle and ultimately collective liberation. ACLU must take a consistent and principled stance in support of civil rights and liberties, and against state violence, racism, colonialism, militarism, and genocide, both in the U.S. and in other parts of the world where the U.S. is investing in war, colonization and occupation. The U.S. has invested in $230 billion+ investments in military aid to kill people in Gaza. The U.S. has invested exponentially high amounts into militarism in Hawai'i. My hope is that the Petition is the start of turning the tide, and ACLU enacting policies that acknowledge and address the continuing harms to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians (in occupied Hawai'i) and other Indigenous Peoples and their ancestral lands where the U.S. forcibly imposes its military bases against the consent of their people (i.e. Philippines, Okinawa/Ryukyu islands, etc.) and where girls and women are disparately subjected to state and military violence. In the words of the late Dr. Haunani Kay-Trask who highlighted the parallels between Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and Palestinians decades ago, "Resistance is its own reward." We must recommit to justice and dissent!

2024-10-02 18:54:42 UTC

I signed because human rights belong to all. In my body I can feel that we are connected on this planet and in this human experience. Our siblings are all around us and all across the world. Palestinians deserve safety, food, medical care, education, clean water, and all of the things that we take for granted so often. Meanwhile the U.S. continues to break International and National laws by funding and providing weapons for an active genocide, while the ACLU has been silent as a whole despite being a preeminent leader in the civil rights field. When I am silent, I lose my humanity little by little. When we speak together, we are powerful. Sending you all love.