Ending 2025 with the grounded sense of hope I picked up in Chicago, as told here:

Israel has killed nearly 100 Palestinians and wounded at least 230 since the 'ceasefire' went into effect on October 10.

“They’re Not Welcome” @dannypostel.bsky.social reports from neighborhoods across Chicago, where he spoke with teams of rapid responders who are protecting residents and challenging Trump’s attempted occupation by fighting fear through solidarity. inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

NEW: I spoke to clergy and faith leaders who've joined protests at the Chicago-area ICE facility. Three say they've been shot with pepper balls, sometimes while praying. All say ICE is also violating their religious freedom, and one is arguing it in court. religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

yasher koach to our beloved comrades at broadview today. from illinois to gaza, all borders will fall!

I’m on the ground at a prayer vigil near the Broadview ICE facility outside Chicago.

Anti-Zionist activists gather at the Gaza fence in solidarity with the Sumud Flotilla and the people of Gaza. Videos by Oren Ziv, in partnership with Local Call. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel #globalsumudflotilla

The JewsforFoodAidforPeopleInGaza campaing is so so so close to reaching the $180,000 goal for our High Holiday Tzedakah campaign before Yom Kippur begins. If you haven't yet please give now! givebutter.com/FoodAidTzeda...

Close to 65k watching the livefeed from the Global Sumud Flotilla off the coast of Gaza. Israel seems to be intercepting right now. All eyes needed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEN2...

As we prepare for Yom Kippur, @jfrejnyc.bsky.social ED Audrey Sasson & Rabbi Avigayil Halperin study several Jewish texts, exploring what teshuvah looks like for the crime of crimes, and what accountability could mean for complicit Jewish leadership. Study guide also available at the link.

one of the frontlines to democracy exists in Broadview, IL. if you're white like me and think you would have had the courage to resist Jim Crow, or if you think you would have stood with your favorite historical figure resisting oppression, guess what Chicago, you have an opportunity to show us. 🧵

Today is Tzom Gedaliah. If it’s your custom to give tzedakah on fast days, or on the High Holy Days in general, please consider supporting the Jews For Food Aid fundraiser to keep the Gaza Soup Kitchen open through Yom Kippur. givebutter.com/FoodAidTzedakah

ICE is terrorizing my neighborhood (Pilsen) and so many others in Chicagoland. There have been sightings and abductions everyday. Please support our rapid response efforts: bit.ly/punofundraiser

This year, may the shofar be a wake-up call for all. As we enter 5786, our commitment to justice is greater than ever.

Far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert added an amendment to the Pentagon budget that targets the BDS movement against Israel.

Israel has begun the “initial stages” of its siege on Gaza City, declaring the capital city a “dangerous combat zone” and ending its daytime pauses for the supposed purpose of allowing the passage of humanitarian aid, despite a famine declaration across the area last week.

Last night, about 60 Chicago activists and organizers gathered to discuss Trump's threatened military occupation of our city. Our convo centered around a worksheet that some friends and I put together this week—a tool that can help us build and strengthen local networks of support and protection.

New by me in Midwest Socialist: Did you know that Illinois has an extremist pro-Israel law on the books? Cause we do, and we have a unique opportunity to repeal it. Read at the link below. midwestsocialist.com/2025/08/20/n...

"Oh mute world, look"

PRA’s @benlorber8.bsky.social dives into how Heather Johnston, a little-known Christian Zionist from Alabama, organized the recent congressional visit to the West Bank and why operatives like her shouldn’t be ignored by mainstream media. Read the full article @religiondispatches.org: bit.ly/3URGcRa

On Aug. 7 a Awdah was finally buried in Umm al Kheir, but the situation in Masafer Yatta is dire. The community calls on Israel to: 1. Assure the safety of communities in Masafer Yatta facing the threats of lethal state and settler violence. 2. Bring Yinon Levy to justice for the murder of Awdah.

“This is a working-class issue. And as a labor leader, it is our responsibility to be the shield of the working class. An injury to one is an injury to all, and that doesn’t exclude Palestinians.” www.democracynow.org/2025/8/5/chr...

My latest @religiondispatches.org - GOP leader Mike Johnson visited the West Bank yesterday & proclaimed support for Israeli annexation. But few noticed the Christian Zionist operative who has arranged trips like his for decades, driven by Biblical prophecy religiondispatches.org/media-fail-t...

🚨 JUSTICE FOR AWDAH - DEMAND HIS BODY IS RETURNED TO UMM AL-KHEIR 🚨 The women of Umm al-Kheir – led by Awdah’s mother, wife and sister – are on hunger strike, demanding Israel release his body so that he can be buried in the village where he was born. ➡️ actionnetwork.org/letters/brin...

On Thursday July 31st, more than 60 women in the Palestinian village of Umm al Khair, in the Southern West Bank initiated a hunger strike to demand the return of the body of community leader Awdah Hathaleen

The family of a Palestinian American child who was 15 at his time of arrest are begging for his release from Israeli prison, where he has been held for nearly six months in pre-trial detention over allegations of throwing rocks.

How do we face Tisha B’Av, when we’ve been in a period of mourning for so long already? How do we connect to ancient pain, when there is brand-new suffering every day? Read it now: bit.ly/tb5785

BREAKING: The Women of Umm Al-Kheir Go on Hunger Strike - Today (July 31), more than seventy women, ranging in age from 13 to over 70, from the village of Umm al-Kheir in Masafer Yatta, decided to begin a hunger strike immediately

Israeli soldiers raided a tent set up for mourning Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen on Tuesday as his killer, an Israeli settler infamous for terrorizing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, was released by an Israeli court.

I just got out after 7+ hours in US Capitol Police custody. Seeing all your love and messages. Keep fighting. Keep screaming. More to come. 🫂❤️‍🩹

Awdah was also a guide to foreigners, many of them Jewish, who come to learn about the occupation. I met him in 2018 and, as others have said, he had the grace & welcoming nature totally beyond what he had suffered & was facing. Today a settler murders him & then the military invades his village.

Our colleague and longtime +972 Magazine contributor Awdah Hathaleen was shot dead in a settler attack on his village, Umm al-Khair, in Masafer Yatta. Read Awdah's contributions to +972 Magazine through the link: www.972mag.com/writer/awdah...

Israel’s starvation policy has killed 9 more Palestinians in the last 24 hours, including 2 children — bringing the total death toll from hunger to 122 since October 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Among the dead are at least 83 children.

Activists say they have hit a turning point in the Palestine solidarity movement and are trying to integrate as many tactics as possible to end U.S. complicity in Israeli violence. “The genocide is happening at the same time that there’s less and less attention being paid to it.”

Alex de Waal has worked on humanitarian causes across the globe for over 40 years. “There is no case, over those four decades, of such minutely engineered, closely monitored, precisely designed mass starvation of a population as is happening in Gaza today.”

For 18 days, six members of @jvp-chicago.bsky.social led a hunger strike that helped re-center Gaza in the public discourse and pressure elected officials.

In addition to the sweep at MacArthur Park in LA, community leaders in Chicago are expressing outrage after federal immigration forces showed up at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture and refused to identify themselves.

DAY 18 UPDATE: Today, 2 of our Jewish hunger strikers went to @SenDuckworth’s office to demand a meeting. Instead of hearing our demands that the U.S. #StopArmingIsrael, Senator Duckworth chose to call the cops on her own constituents. Undeterred, we continue to demand #ArmsEmbargo NOW!

2/ Intro messages at #Socialism2025 Opening Plenary: *Masking at the gathering, in solidarity with those who can't safely attend otherwise; COVID isn't over. * @jvp-chicago.bsky.social‬ members are on day 18 of zero-calorie hunger strike demanding USA stop sending Israel weapons, and allow aid in.

Downstairs there is a solidarity rally with other hunger strikers and supporters. They also start calling Senator Duckworth’s office to demand fair treatment and a meeting to discuss the devastation of Gaza.

BREAKING: Eight JVP members are being arrested by DHS, two on their 18th day of hunger strike, after refusing to leave Senator Tammy Duckworth’s Chicago office and calling for an end to U.S. weapons to Israel.

HAPPENING NOW: JVP Chicago hunger strikers on their 18th day without food are outside Senator Tammy Duckworth’s Chicago Office, calling for an end to U.S. weapons to Israel.

So much love for our comrades across the country who took on solidarity fasts alongside our hunger strike. Together we must bear witness to the starvation of Gaza and demand that our govt #StopArmingIsrael to #LetGazaLive!

This week, Jews and people of conscience across the US undertook solidarity fasts demanding the US stop arming Israel and calling for an immediate end to the Israeli military’s blockading of aid entering Gaza, in coordination with JVP CHI, where hunger strikers have entered their 17th day.

Please join us tonight, Wednesday 7/2, for a vigil which honors those who have been killed in Gaza. As we go on with our work, fighting for freedom and justice for all in Palestine, we must remember and mourn those who have been taken before their time by the Israeli Regime.

Today is Day 16 of our #LetGazaLive Hunger Strike. Israel killed at least 113 people in Gaza today. What will it take for our elected representatives stand up and stop arming a genocide? #StopStarvingGaza #StopArmingIsrael

Today is Day 15, as we enter our 3rd week of the #LetGazaLive hunger strike. Our members of congress must stop the flow of U.S. arms & funding to a military that is starving 2 million people and shooting when they seek food aid #StopStarvingGaza #StopArmingIsrael

BREAKING: Over 200 faith leaders and activists are protesting the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit in Washington, D.C. They’re calling out CUFI’s role in fueling U.S. militarism, backing war with Iran, and supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Follow @therealnews.com for more