The majority of the dead in Gaza are civilians, and far too many of them are children. As of this writing, Israel’s military assault has killed 12,600 children in Gaza. We are Jewish educators, and we refuse to remain silent in the face of these atrocities. As teachers, we work with children every day, and our love and care for them extends beyond our classrooms. We can’t sit on the sidelines as young people’s lives are being cut short or forever altered by war. Our horror moves us to action in support of a cease-fire.

We are calling for a cease-fire because we are educators, but also because we are union members with the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), who are part of a movement for social and economic justice in Los Angeles and beyond. As union activists, the right of all people to a safe place to call home is one of our most deeply held beliefs, along with our faith in the power of solidarity and collective action to change the world.

Our Jewishness does not contradict our support for a cease-fire, nor is it merely incidental. As Jews, we know that the safety of our people is bound up in the safety of all people. We also come from a religious and cultural tradition that gave us the capacity to deeply empathize with the struggles of all oppressed people — and we refuse to make an exception for Palestinians just because their oppressors are Jewish.