Philadelphia, PA-
Jewish Voice for Peace-Philadelphia (JVP Philly) commends the City Council on unanimously passing Resolution 161119 against Islamophobia. This resolution upholds the City’s “support for and protection of Muslim communities, condemning violence and hate speech targeted towards Muslims, affirming the religious pluralism of the United States, and urging Philadelphia residents to stand in solidarity with our American Muslim communities - and all other communities - for peace and justice.” We look forward to working with City Council in their efforts to realize the principles outlined in this resolution.
JVP Philly also commends Mayor Kenney on his commitment to maintaining Philadelphia’s ‘sanctuary city’ status and upholding the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. We applaud Mayor Kenney for standing up to President Trump, who on January 25th issued an executive order rendering sanctuary cities ineligible for federal grants and threatening to withhold federal funding from cities that fail to cooperate.
JVP Philly thanks Mayor Kenney and the City Council for taking a stand against the racist and xenophobic policies issuing from the federal government. We hope our city government will continue to take measures to address systemic Islamophobia and racism in Philadelphia.
To this end, we encourage Mayor Kenney to fulfill his campaign promise to end racist stop-and-frisk practices. We also urge the city government to refuse any efforts to register or surveil members of the Muslim community, and to refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs officials. In the coming months and years, we hope to see our Mayor and City Council resisting any harmful and discriminatory orders coming from the Trump administration.
JVP Philly pledges to resist Trump’s despicable policies in every possible way. We’ll put our hearts, souls, and bodies on the line to stop these hateful and racist attacks. We all belong here. We will love, protect, and defend one another.