IfNotNow

Overview

IfNotNow (INN) is an anti-Israel organization founded in 2014 in response to Operation Protective Edge (OPE). The group claims to be “young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions” to the operation.

The group launched their official website in 2016 and claims to have established chapters across the United States. They present three demands on their website: “Stop the War on Gaza, End the Occupation, and Freedom and Dignity for All.”

INN describes itself as an organization “steeped both in left-wing protest and Jewish tradition” that seeks to “end American Jewish support for the occupation.”

INN’s name is derived from the end of a quote by the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" The group asserts that they take this saying as instruction “to reinterpret the tradition so that we too may continue the struggle for Jewish liberation in our age,” which they claim to be connected to “Palestinian liberation.”

INN claims to take no position on a two-state solution or the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The group mainly opposes what it calls the American Jewish establishment’s support for the “occupation” and has been careful not to weigh in on other issues, which allows it to attract anti-Zionist activists from JStreet U and from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Structure, Allies and Agenda

INN asserts that they are a decentralized movement with no organizational hierarchy, calling each of its organizers “leaders.” Many of the group’s founders were former members of JStreet U.

One of the group’s founders is Simone Zimmerman. Zimmerman was fired from her position as the “Jewish outreach coordinator” for the Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, for posting on Facebook that “Bibi Netanyahu is an arrogant, deceptive, cynical, manipulative a**hole.”

In describing the motivation behind the group’s founding, Zimmerman explained, “The problem is nearly 50 years of occupation.”

In some cities, members and leaders of the anti-Israel JVP organization are also deeply involved with INN. Many INN activists participate in JVP actions and vice versa. JVP spokeswoman Naomi Dann reportedly consults regularlywith members of INN.

INN initially spurned collaboration with JVP. However, in June 2017, INN joined JVP in protesting Israel at the Salute to Israel parade in New York City.

INN have also allied themselves with the anti-Israel American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). SJP and AMP founder, professor Hatem Bazian, openly praised the coalition between INN and AMP. AMP’s Associate Director of Outreach & Community Organizing, Taher Herzallah, has taken an active role in INN programs. Along with activists from Code Pink and JVP, INN also defended AMP staffers Herzallah and Kareem El-Hosseiny, who faced six months in prison for disrupting the confirmation hearing of United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

Funding

INN’s website includes a donation page, which states that “If Not Now is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.”

In 2018, INN was awarded a grant by The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). Other anti-Israel entities that have received funding from FMEP include JVP, Breaking The Silence and Palestine Legal.

On March 9, 2017, INN was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF). RBF has a history of supporting anti-Jewish causes, including BDS campaigns and various organizations that promote BDS throughout the United States.

INN has an Indiegogo crowdfunding page set up to raise funds for their various training sessions. The group has also set up various legal defense pages to help pay legal fees for their members’ numerous arrests, stemming from their disruptive actions.

INN also regularly disseminates articles from their Medium.com account, which they use to display their accomplishments and solicit donations.

Tactics

INN has a particular focus on disruptive protests of pro-Israel events and institutions. To this end, INN have held multiple sit-in protests in the lobbies of buildings housing mainstream Jewish organizations.

On April 20, 2016, two days before the Jewish Passover holiday, approximately 100 INN members entered the Manhattan headquarters of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Seventeen activists refused to leave when instructed by police and were arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Following the incident, ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt issued a statement that said: “INN never attempted to contact us about their intended visit or to engage us in any meaningful dialogue. In fact, ADL immediately extended an invitation to meet, which INN rejected.”

On April 19, 2016, INN members protested outside the building housing the Boston Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and Jewish federation. JCRC Executive Director Jeremy Burton publicly invited INN members to have an open meeting to discuss their objectives; INN refused the invitation.

On March 26, 2017, INN members organized a protest outside the Washington D.C. venue of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Conference. Several hundred protesters spent hours dancing and chanting outside, while some chained themselves to the entrance of the conference center.

Four INN activists purchased tickets to the conference as AIPAC delegates, in order to gain access to the building. Once inside, the INN activists dropped banners from the center’s third floor, stating that they “reject AIPAC and the occupation,” before being removed by security.

On April 19, 2018, INN protested outside Metro Detroit’s Hillel Day School’s annual Israel Independence Day celebration. A group of approximately 15 activists, representing INN Detroit came onto the school’s sidewalk, unfurled a banner and began singing. They distributed flyers to attendees that said, “we can no longer be silent as our community supports pro-Israel-at-any-costs politics.”

Initiatives

INN seeks to advance their agenda through what they call “public action and imaginative ritual.” Their programming includes the following initiatives.

Liberation Seders

In April 2016, prior to the Passover holiday, INN leaders Ethan Miller and Sara Sandmelwrote an op-ed casting Palestinians in the roles of ancient Hebrews liberated from Egypt. The op-ed stated that INN actions would take place in Washington DC, Boston, New York City, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Two days before Passover, approximately 100 INN members entered the New York City building housing the ADL. Seventeen refused to leave when police instructed them to and were arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct. Another 100 members held a liberation seder in front of Hillel International’s office in Washington DC.

In Boston, INN activists held a liberation seder in front of the local Jewish Federation before moving to the Boston AIPAC office and chaining themselves outside. Six who chained themselves inside the lobby were arrested.

In Berkeley, INN members set up inside the local Jewish Federation office. After police forced out into the street by police, they continued to chant anti-Israel slogans.

Many of the activists set up tables and manipulated symbols from the Jewish Seder table to represent different aspects of “the occupation.”

INN claimed that approximately 500 people participated in their liberation seders and uploaded resources for public use.

You Never Told Me

The online "You Never Told Me" campaign calls on Jewish educational organizations and institutions to include information about “the occupation” in their teachings about Israel.

The campaign features INN members providing testimonials about their Israel-related educational experiences with different Jewish organizations, including United Synagogue Youth (USY), Camp Ramah, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Solomon Schechter Day School Network. Many of these testimonials were then published as op-ed pieces in publications like The Forward, JewSchool and 972mag.

On November 7, 2017, about 20 protesters held a rally outside the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) “to demand that the Conservative movement’s Camp Ramah start talking about the Israeli occupation.”

It was reported that an email from an INN activist to the head of Ramah camps, Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, read “We demand that Ramah programs start telling the truth: Include the Israeli occupation in your Israel programming.”

Rabbi Cohen wrote in a November 7 statement: “We offered to meet with them to learn more about their concerns, but were disappointed when that offer was rejected in favor of social media campaigns and public protest. Our offer stands.”

Targeting Birthright

On April 15, 2018, INN activists projected words onto the building that was hosting the annual Taglit (Birthright) Gala in New York City. Phrases projected included “Birthright Lied to Us” and “Birthright Keeps Young Jews in the Dark.” INN launched a concurrent social media campaign, with the hashtag “#ShedLightOnBirthright.”

On January 1, 2018, INN activists gathered in airports where Jewish students were preparing to go on their Taglit-Birthright trips to Israel. Activists set up a table offering free coffee, with a sign that read: "Birthrighters: Ask Us About the Occupation & Have a Great Trip."

At the table, activists gave out postcards, prompting participants to ask their guides questions on the trip like “Where will I see evidence of the Occupation on my Birthright trip?” and “What role does the American Jewish community play in upholding the Occupation?”

Camps

On May 27, 2018, INN organized a day-long training in Boston for approximately 12 counselors in Jewish summer camps on how to discuss the issue of “the occupation” both informally and in camp programs. The stated goal was “to encourage counselors to present divergent sides of the conflict rather than solely a pro-Israel line.”

The national director of Ramah, one of the camps targeted by INN, reportedly responded to the training and its ensuing controversy noting that “[A] wide variety of positions supporting Israel can be voiced and discussed. We do not, however, permit the sharing of anti-Israel educational messages at camp.”

Rabbi Mitchell Cohen continued: “As we have done for more than seven decades, Ramah will continue to create educational communities based on meaningful and lasting connections to Judaism and Israel.”

INN reportedly stated that it was “deeply disappointed” in Ramah’s response.

Vigils

One of the group’s first actions was a vigil in front of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, on July 28, 2014. At the demonstration, INN marked the beginning of Tisha B’Av that year by reciting the Kaddish Jewish prayer for the dead for all Palestinian and Israeli victims of OPE. Nine participants were arrested.

On May 22, 2018, INN activists gathered in cities across the country at #IfNotUsWho Vigils to mourn the Palestinians killed during the 2018 Gaza border protests.

INN’s online announcement of the event claimed that “In the exact moment that Trump moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem — opening his Embassy of Occupation — Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian protesters in Gaza, killing 60 and injuring over 2,000.”