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Passover 201 2/5772

Dear Friend,

Happy Passover!

S

ince we last gathered around the seder table, Palestinian Freedom Riders at- tempted to board Jewish-only buses in the West Bank to reach Jerusalem, a second flotilla of international human rights activists attempted to break the siege of Gaza, and the spirit of Tunisia and Tahrir square continued to spread around the world, birthing the Occupy movement in this country. The story we tell each year around the seder table is a story that we are, according to Jewish tradition, required to tell to our children generation after generation. In truth, I find, we actually tell it out of necessity. After all, our lives and experiences are part of the continuation of the liberation story of the Exodus. Our stories, too, are stories of solidarity and allyship, stories of healing and resilience, stories of celebration and gratitude. This past June, as boats attempted to leave Greece and arrive in Gaza, we urged JVP supporters to step into Moses’ shoes and urge: Let our people go. Let the ships sail. Break the seige of Gaza. This past July, we held our first Regional Leadership Development Institutes. Among other notable outcomes of the weekend, included the birth of the idea for the Go & Learn Initiative, now in full swing, to bring conversation about BDS into Je wish institutional communitie s. This past October, the JVP national office closed to participate in the General Strike as part of Occupy Oakland, and the broader Occupy movement nationwide. JVPers gathered in the square carrying signs that read “Occupy Oakland, Not Palestine.” In January, the We Divest Campaign targeting retirement fund giant TIAA-CR EF transitioned officially out of being a JVP campaign to being a coalition effort, with our partners at the American Friends Service Committee, Adalah- NY, Grassroots International, US Palestinian Communities Network, and the US Campaign to End the Occupation. As we head into this Passover, we are stopping to celebrate the community of organizers, activists and supporters that make up JVP . Be sure to raise your glass high, in appreciation and celebration for each other, as you take up your cup four times for four core elements of the movement for justice in Israel-Pa lestine, as we engage in it, support it, and see it at JVP — the first for education, the second for solidarity, the third for the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement, and the final cup for community. Thank you to Jessica Rosenberg, Vincent Calvetti-W olf, and Wendy Somerson for revising and improving this Haggadah for 2012/5772. Thanks also to Jews Against the Occupation (JATO) “After Exodus” Haggadah and the JVP-Seattle Haggadah for holding such a meaningful set of words and rituals and for their authors’ willingness to share freely. Onward to liberation,

Rabbi Alissa Wise