Description
As an organization, Bend the Arc is committed to fighting for a United States free from white supremacy, antisemitism, and racism, where every person can thrive. While we remain within a domestic only boundary, as our Executive Director, Jamie Beran, wrote, “our hearts know no borders, and many in our community are afraid and grieving loved ones in Israel and Palestine. I know that even — and especially — in the hardest and scariest moments, holding fast to each other and to the possibility of freedom and liberation is how we follow our ancestors on the path to the future we’re building and so desperately need.”
With this message in mind, we want to invite you to our October Community Meeting where we will be gathering to ground ourselves in the continued importance of solidarity and partnership in all of the work we do locally on Long Island in the wake of the tragedies in Israel and Palestine. We know that on a good day, this is difficult work, and the wide range of emotions we are all feeling right now only makes our work even harder. Nonetheless, now is the time to bind ourselves even closer to our friends and our community members, and share in the work of dismantling white supremacy and antisemitism on all fronts.
There are already tragic and heartbreaking ways that the violence many miles away is showing up at our doorsteps with increased acts of antisemitism and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry here at home. Within our domestic only framework, there is much to do here on Long Island to maintain our partnerships and live into our Jewish values for justice.
We hope you will join us on Wednesday to gather as a chapter during this difficult time. We will look at Jewish text as a source of guidance, discuss how to navigate and hold strong in our partnerships and most importantly commit to one another to fight hate in all forms, including the antisemitism and Islamophobia exhibited at this time in the United States.