For Immediate Release: October 9, 2025

Media Contact: Asya Pikovsky, press@jfrej.org, 207-522-2442

JFREJ: Ceasefire Must Be Beginning of Accountability, Not the End

NEW YORK - In response to the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice released the following statement from Executive Director Audrey Sasson:

“After two years of heartbreak and devastation, we are filled with relief and hope today. A ceasefire is a desperately needed first step to end the genocide, allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, and reunite the hostages - Israeli and Palestinian - with their families. 

But we also feel the weight of what is left to do, and what cannot be undone - the lives that could have been saved and the destruction prevented if we had reached this moment sooner. Today, Gaza is devastated beyond recognition - homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and entire families destroyed. We know that destruction on this scale leaves wounds that last generations. 

Last week our community observed Yom Kippur, and the lessons of atonement from that day still ring in our ears, reminding us that there is no path to healing without accountability. Those who enabled and defended this destruction in the name of Jewish safety must be held to account - starting from the very top. 

As New Yorkers who have organized alongside immigrant, Muslim, and Palestinian communities for 35 years, we know that true safety and thriving come through real solidarity - not isolation or domination. We commit to collective liberation by building a future where all people can live with genuine freedom, safety, and self-determination. 

Ultimately, we know we have to end the underlying conditions that lead to violence: Israel's brutal military occupation. Over the last two years, we have witnessed the unconscionable cruelty that fellow humans are capable of inflicting - and our government's complicity in enabling it. We also know that history did not begin on October 7th and that this ceasefire notwithstanding, the Israeli government has not relinquished its goal of erasing Palestinians from Palestine. Our organizing in solidarity with Palestinian liberation must only grow.

The Palestinian people deserve to live in freedom and dignity, full stop. This ceasefire is momentous and only the beginning. The work of repair and accountability has just started, and we will not rest until it’s done.”

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