We call for an immediate ceasefire.

We demand that our Jewish communal organisations do the same.

We as Jews in New Zealand are still processing the grief, shock and trauma of October 7 and the weeks since. Some of us have lost loved ones. We all fear for those held hostage, and we mourn the atrocities committed by Hamas and Israel. The violence that continues, the thousands of Palestinian deaths and the boundless suffering of Gazan civilians are not, and will never be, the answer to our grief. Once violence enters into the world it can not be put back. It seeps into our minds, scars our bodies, and poisons the earth.

We carry it for generations.

We as a community must now seek Pikuach Nefesh – the preservation of human life. We must have compassion and empathy for all victims of violence, not just the ones we know.

Our political and communal leadership tell us that there are two options: we are either for Jewish security OR Palestinian freedom. Our community deserves leaders who understand that human rights are not a zero-sum game.

There is no military solution to this conflict. There is no violent pathway to Jewish or Palestinian security.

The only peaceful future is a shared future. We must commit to both Jewish and Palestinian liberation together – two peoples’ fundamental rights to life and liberation now, in our lifetime.

Our organising, outrage and courage is grounded in the Jewish principle: “Truth springs up from the earth; Justice looks down from the heavens”

אמת מארץ תצמח וצדק משמים נשקף

We will not sit silently while our grief is used to justify further harm to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Jewish self-determination that is built on death, destruction and collective punishment will never be safe and cannot, by its nature, be Jewish.

As a Jewish community, we must embrace a new vision of a better future—a future of joint liberation, freedom and real justice. We will not be free until all of us are free.

We call for ceasefire now.
Urgently assist the people of Gaza.

Free all the hostages, end the occupation, and work for the liberation of two peoples.

Please add your name below to join our call.

This letter has been signed by over 100 members of the Jewish community in Aotearoa New Zealand so far. Use the form below to add your name, or click here to access the form.

If you would like to add your name anonymously, please write just your first name, your initials, or simply write anonymous.

Signed by:

David Weinstein

Sue Berman

Arlo Levin

Eliza Prestidge Oldfield

Rosie Black

Mhoram Kylare

Sam Dyson

Aaliyah Zionov

Ella Shnapp

Nina Bilenko

Jeremy Rose

Sarah A

Fred Albert

Ruby Webb-Sagarin

Avigail Allan

Sandy Lightstone Hildebrandt

Justine Sachs

A.B

Ilan Blumberg

Hannah Lorraine Gropper

Judy Lightstone

Morgan Platt

Philippa Yasbek

Asher Wilson-Goldman

C Eldritch

Marilyn Garson

Sabrina Sachs

Sarah Jane Cole

Prue Hyman

Tamar Louisson

Edan-Jason Sebastian Rosinger

Maya Amalia Katherine Charlotte Cosette-Shepherd

Margalit Toledano

David Cormack

Lenka Rochford

Rebecca Kunin

Manija Kunin

Abraham Kunin

Estelle Sachs

Tam Clemerson

Prue Hyman

Adeline Marteil

Briar Hale

Kate Bradlow

Gabrielle D

Bella Berman

Hayden Lawrence kosminski Long-smith

Amanda Green

Naomi Thelma Allan

Natan karon

Tana Fishman

Lisa Levitt

Simon Walker

Raima Harding

Shaked From

Robin Harding

Carol Wilson

Eric Wilson

G L

Miriam Kauders

Aimee Sorrell

Susan Pezaro

Marc Daalder

Diego Lewin

Talia Allan

Jasmine Harding

Alia Bloom

Sam Bookman

Asher Lewis

Jessica Aitken

Andrey Ivanov

Ian Hoffmann

Lisa Levitt

Tamara Liebman

Madleine CarrWhite

Carole Mosco

Jasper Holloway

Leah Dodd

Hagar Ozri

Leonie Ariel

sarah bookman

Minnie Florence Barr

Teesh Howarth

AOM

Caitlin Perlman

Fernanda Winiawer Znamensky

Aimee Horowitz

Hadassah Green

Esther Woodbury

Stacey Taylor

Marlon Drake

Michael SW

Ann Mullenger

Gsp

Claire Levy

Leigh

Keren Segal

Daniel Fridberg

Ro

Tamari Segal Fridberg

Jennifer

Tzukeet Homan

Saige Vendome England

Alia Bloom

Hannah

Amara

Yael Shochat