Dottie Zellner at the NYC Chanukah for Ceasefire

On the first night of Chanukah, SNCC veteran and lifelong activist Dottie Zellner spoke at the New York City Chanukah for Ceasefire, sharing some of the history of Jewish people fighting for justice in the past century. She said:

• We were among the young women who jumped out of the window at the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in 1911.
• In the 1930s we took action with our comrades when people were evicted from their homes. When the marshals came and threw all their belongings into the street, we put them back in.
• We were in Spain in 1936 fighting the fascists.
• We fought to the bitter end in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943.
• We participated in the Southern Civil Rights Movement and went to Mississippi in 1964.
• We struggled against the War in Vietnam.
• We marched with Black Lives Matter.
• And now — Gaza.
• We didn’t do any of this because we wanted to [air quotes] “help anyone.”
• We did it because we want to live in a world of EQUAL RIGHTS — FOR ALL.
• We will have peace and safety when we have EQUAL RIGHTS — FOR EVERYONE IN PALESTINE/ISRAEL.
• CEASEFIRE NOW!

Read about Zellner at the SNCC Digital Gateway.

Find our growing collection of resources to teach about the ongoing violence in Palestine below.