Take Action
These are actions folks in the US can take to stop the genocide of Palestinians.
The only recognizable feature of hope is action.
- Grace Paley
Folks in the US can take action to stop the Israeli Occupying Forces’ genocide of Palestinians. Our government is funding it. Our government is blatantly supporting it. We can stop that. I’ve included actions below. All of these actions are from Palestinian or Jewish organizations. I’ve especially pulled from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights’ Stop Gaza Genocide: Ceasefire Now document and the Palestinian Feminist Collective’s All Out for Palestine toolkit. Our voices matter. We can stop this genocide. More needs to happen after the ceasefire. The apartheid and occupation of Palestine must end. Palestine must be free, from the river to the sea. For that to happen, the ceasefire must happen immediately.
Things you can do from home.
Petitions: 1 minute or less
Sign this petition from MPower Change supporting South Africa’s case charging Israel with genocide against Palestinians at the World Court.
Sign this petition from the Palestinian Youth Movement demanding that President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken call for an end to the siege on Gaza
Sign this petition from MPower Change demanding that Meta stop censoring Palestinian voices on Instagram and Facebook.
Sign this petition from MPower Change demanding that Citibank cut all ties with the settler colony of Israel.
Sign this petition from Progressive Change Campaign Committee demanding that MSNBC reinstate Mehdi Hasan’s show, where he has been critical of Israel.
Sign this petition from Queers for Liberation demanding that LGBTQIA2S+ organizations demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Sign this petition demanding that the Wall Street Journal retract two opinion pieces titled “Chicago Votes for Hamas” and “Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital.”
Emails and faxes: 3-5 minutes
Congress:
Use this tool from MPower Change to tell Congress to reinstate funding to UNRWA
All five of these tools will generate the email for you. It is helpful to change the subject line and personalize the message, though.
Use Free Fax to send five free faxes daily.
Find your senators and representatives’ fax numbers on the contact page of their website. It’s helpful to save this information to speed up the process!
Not all members of Congress have fax numbers listed.
There is no automated script for this action, so I use the scripts from the email tools above.
After you send the fax, you need to go to your email and click the link to confirm sending the fax.
White House:
Use this tool from MPower Change to email Joe Biden and demand that he comply with the International Court of Justice ruling and end all arming of and funding to Israel
Both of these tools will generate the email for you. It is helpful to change the subject line and personalize the message, though.
Email the White House and tell them to demand a ceasefire.
Select president in the first dropdown list under “Message Type.”
After you send that email, refresh the page. It should keep all of your information. Select “vice president” in the first dropdown list under “Message Type” and submit.
This tool does not generate the email for you. I use my edited version from the USCPR tool above as the message.
Other Countries’ Governments:
Write to the Egyptian embassy in your country using a version of this form letter to urge them to allow the Global Conscience Convoy safe passage into Gaza. The letter includes email addresses and other contact information for Egyptian embassies.
Labor Leaders:
Use this tool from the US Labor Against Racism and War to email labor leaders in the US and demand that they break their silence and leverage their power as union leaders to demand a ceasefire.
Phone calls: 5-10 minutes
Congress:
Use this tool from US Campaign for Palestinian Rights to call your members of Congress and demand that they publicly call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire.
This tool provides a script for you. All you have to do is put in your contact information and the tool will call you and connect you with your members of Congress.
White House:
Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 to demand a ceasefire.
This tool does not provide a script for you. You can keep it simple and just demand that the White House publicly calls for an immediate, permanent ceasefire.
Social media: 1 minute or less
Share and re-post what is being shared by Palestinians. It matters, even if you don’t get a lot of views, or any views. Here’s why, according to Subhi, a Palestinian who works in social media.
Sharing to stories, reposting, liking, and commenting on posts by Palestinians about the genocide they’re facing helps increase that content’s ranking in the algorithm. “Ranking is how the algorithm determines the number of people a place of content is shown to. The higher the ranking, the more people it’s shown to.”
Here are Palestinians I follow in the south of Gaza:
Hind Khoudary, also on X
Lama Jamous (Gaza’s youngest journalist)
Here are Palestinians I follow in the north of Gaza:
Here are Palestinians I follow in central Gaza:
Here are Palestinians I follow in Occupied Palestine
Here are Palestinians I follow throughout the diaspora:
Motaz Azaiza, also on X (formerly in Gaza, evacuated to diaspora)
Plestia Alaqad, also on TikTok (formerly in Gaza, evacuated to diaspora)
Wael Al Dahdouh (formerly in Gaza, evacuated to diaspora)
Salma Shawa, also on TikTok
Shadeh (ASL interpretation)
If you are worried about backlash from publicly speaking out against this genocide and in solidarity with Palestine, that’s fair! Dr.
created an excellent resource on their instagram for how to handle that backlash. I’ve found it incredibly helpful. You can find it here.Send E-Sims to Gaza: 5 minutes or less
Connecting Humanity is connecting thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to the internet through e-sims. You can buy e-sims through Nomad, Mogo, Holafly, Simly, or Airalo. After you purchase the e-sim, do not activate it. Instead, take a screenshot of the QR code and email it to gazaesims@gmail.com. Here is a guide for how to purchase and send e-sims.
If you purchased and sent an e-sim, but it hasn’t been activated yet, there are lots of possible reasons why! It’s important to remember that the activation process is sensitive and if someone loses connection while trying to activate an e-sim, it could render that e-sim unusable and they will need to move on to another e-sim. Mirna El Helbawi, the founder of Connecting Humanity, explains many reasons why an e-sim may not be activated yet in this video.
Community Power Hours: 30-60 minutes
It’s helpful to be in community while making congressional calls, especially if (like me!) you hate making phone calls. One option that I attend is:
30 minutes: Jewish Voice for Peace Power Half-Hours, Monday through Friday, 3pm - 3:30m ET
At these power hours, hundreds of people come together to share in our grief, anger, hope, and more. We hear updates about what is happening on the ground in Gaza and the rest of Palestine and we take action together in solidarity with Palestinians.
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)
Learn how to get involved through the BDS Movement. Boycott targets are explained well in this post. Here is some of the information in the post:
Targets are broken down into:
Pressure (non-boycott): BDS movement calls for pressure campaigns against these brands and services
Pressure actions: cancel subscriptions, minimize or stop purchases, write reviews, give customer feedback, share criticism online, email the company your criticism
Organic boycotts: Unoffical grassroots boycott campaigns that the BDS movement supports
Consumer boycotts: BDS movement calls for a complete boycott of these brands
Divestments: BDS movement is pressuring governments, institutions, and investment funds to exclude and divest from these complicit companies
It’s important to note that Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) is censoring and silencing Palestinians and their allies; however, Palestinians are still using these tools to make sure folks around the world know about the genocide they’re facing. Instead of boycotting Meta, Palestinians have asked that we go to the play store or app store (depending on what phone you use) and give the apps low ratings, along with comments about Meta’s support of the genocide. Palestinians have also asked that we continue to repost, share to stories, comment, like, and save content that they are making about Palestine.
Move Your Money
Big banks fund the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. It may seem like a lot to switch banks, but it matters. I went through the process a couple of years ago and, once I found a bank, it was very easy to switch. Organizers created a toolkit here with lots of information and resources around why this matters, how you can find a bank that doesn’t fund genocide, and helpful reminders about the logistics involved in switching banks.
Donate: 1-3 minutes
The Palestine Diaspora Movement created a list of organizations to donate to. The list is towards the bottom of the 101 Actions for Gaza page.
Additionally, Jenan Matari has created this list of donation links created by families in Gaza. Jenan does not directly know all of the families or those fundraising on their behalf. She also has no connection to the donation links and has no knowledge about how the funds will be dispersed, transferred, or used.
Things you can do outside of your home.
Attend protests: several hours to days, depending on travel
Find a protest near you. Remember to be safe at the protest. Wear a mask and bring hand sanitizer, water, and snacks. For more information about how to stay safe, check out this post. For information about your rights as a protestor, check out this guide from the National Lawyers Guild. To find a protest near you:
Hang flyers and posters all over town: 10-60 minutes, depending on travel
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights has a google drive with protest signs. Print them and hang them all over your town. If you don’t have a printer, your local library probably does.
Organize in community
In my experience, the most important thing you can do to sustainably work towards Palestinian liberation (and the liberation of all of us) for the rest of your life is to organize in community.
For folks who aren’t already part of an organization working with Palestinians towards liberation, or any organization working towards any liberation, I know it can be overwhelming to start. I’ve been trying to find a political organizing home for years and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I finally settled into one with Dissenters. There are options, though, I promise. And, as organizers have said in nearly every teach-in, workshop, training, and meeting I’ve been a part of, we are all needed, and there are roles for everyone.
It’s important to find an organization that is principled, centers Palestinians and other communities that are the most impacted, and that you feel supported in. Some options include:
Dissenters: “Dissenters is leading a new generation of young people to reclaim our resources from the war industry, reinvest in life-giving services, and repair collaborative relationships with the earth and people around the world.”
To join a Dissenters crew or chapter, you must be between the ages of 18-35.
Within Our Lifetime: “Palestinian-led community organization. We will free Palestine #WithinOurLifetime.”
To join Within Our Lifetime, you need to fill our their form.
Palestine Hurra Collective: “A Nashville-based, abolitionist, organizing collective fighting for the total liberation of Palestine via direct action and community care”
This collective is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Palestinian Youth Movement: “We are a transnational, independent, grassroots movement of young Palestinians dedicated to the liberation of our homeland and people.”
To join the Palestinian Youth Movement, you must be a Palestinian or Arab youth between the ages of 18-35.
Dream Defenders: “Young, powerful Black and brown people organizing towards a new vision for safety away from police and prisons.”
To join Dream Defenders, attend a welcome call.
Jews Against White Supremacy: “The primary goal driving Jews Against White Supremacy is to fight and work to abolish Zionist Jewish institutions. This will be done through a multi-pronged effort of mobilizing existing anti-Zionist Jews, direct action, educational campaigns, and other efforts. We also aim to create community as anti-Zionist Jews, and work to create organizations and institutions that represent our values. However, we will not lose sight of the fact that Zionism, as a settler colonial ideology, directly harms Palestinians, and we will always ensure support and solidarity with them in their struggle.”
You do not need to be Jewish to join Jews Against White Supremacy.
Jewish Voice for Peace: “Jewish Voice for Peace is the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. We’re organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews into solidarity with Palestinian freedom struggle.”
You do not need to be Jewish to join and organize with Jewish Voice for Peace.
U.S. Labor Against Racism and War: “U.S. Labor Against Racism and War (USLARW) is an independent national umbrella organization of unions and other labor groups… Our network of more than 120 unions, labor councils, state labor federations, allied labor organizations and union committees organize to build international labor solidarity to oppose militarism of working-class communities both at home and abroad.”
To join U.S. Labor Against Racism and War, you must be an active member in your union.
National Students for Justice in Palestine: “National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP) seeks to empower, unify, and support student organizers as they push forward demands for Palestinian liberation & self-determination on their campuses.”
Join the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on your campus.