Our history

For over a decade, IfNotNow has been at the forefront of building a vibrant Jewish future rooted in safety, courage, and solidarity. Our movement refuses to stay silent in the face of Israel’s policies of apartheid, occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against Palestinian people. Again and again, we have challenged the unconditional support of establishment Jewish institutions for Israel’s oppressive systems, while offering a vision of Jewish life grounded in safety and freedom for all people.

From Mourning to Building (2014)

During the summer of 2014, amid Israel’s assault on Gaza known as Operation Protective Edge, a group of young American Jews organized Mourner’s Kaddish actions where we could publicly display our grief, in protest of the establishment Jewish institutions that uncritically backed Israeli military violence. Out of that pain and urgency, IfNotNow was born. Over the next 4 years, we developed a strategy for moving our beloved Jewish community forward on Palestinian human rights, training up thousands of young Jews across the country, and moving them into leadership.

The Jewish Resistance (2017)

After the 2016 election, IfNotNow launched the #JewishResistance, a campaign standing up against the Trump administration and complicit establishment Jewish organizations and leaders. This included leading the call to #FireBannon to expose the Trump agenda’s antisemitic far right extremism, and launching the call to #RejectAIPAC when over 1,000 of us disrupted the 2017 AIPAC Conference.

#YouNeverToldMe (2018)

In 2018, the #YouNeverToldMe campaign gave voice to the disillusionment felt by alumni of Hebrew schools, Birthright, Hillel, day schools, synagogues, and other pillars of Jewish education. For many of us, the systematic erasure of Palestinian experiences from our education was a searing betrayal of our Jewish commitment to grappling with the truth. This campaign united a generation around a shared reckoning: we had been taught a one-sided narrative, and we were ready to demand honesty, accountability, and justice.

Not Just A Free Trip (2018–2019)

We captured national attention by exposing Birthright Israel’s refusal to acknowledge the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, including by supporting those who walked off their Birthright trips. These actions were a watershed moment, signaling a generational shift in American Jewish attitudes toward Israel. They forced mainstream conversations about occupation into the spotlight and challenged the status quo of blind support.

Reject AIPAC (2020–present)

During the 2020, 2022, and 2024 election cycles, we advanced the RejectAIPAC campaign urging political candidates to disavow the powerful pro-war lobby. By exposing AIPAC’s cozy relationships with far-right figures and its role in silencing dissent, we pushed the conversation forward. During the 2020 Democratic primaries, IfNotNow leaders confronted presidential candidates on their ties to AIPAC, ultimately endorsing Bernie Sanders—the first major candidate to call for justice for Palestinians as part of a progressive vision. In the cycles since, we have defended progressive leaders from attempts by AIPAC to use Republican billionaires’ money to buy Democratic primaries. Today, even politicians who’ve received millions of dollars from AIPAC are breaking with the organization over its extremism, and we have no plans to ease the pressure.

Ceasefire and Not Another Bomb (2023-2024)

In the aftermath of the horrific Hamas-led October 7 attacks, amid the Israeli military’s genocidal assault on Gaza, IfNotNow helped lead mass Jewish protests across the country. Our demands were clear: ceasefire now, hostage exchange, the end of offensive weapons transfers from the US to the Israeli military and a path toward justice, equality, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis. Our ranks ballooned during this period, as Jews of conscience sought a spiritual and political home in the face of the horror.

Jews for Shared Safety (2025)

Now, in the face of a second fascist Trump administration, which uses “Jewish safety” as a pretext to strip human rights and democratic protections even as it promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, our work is more urgent than ever. We are building a movement for shared safety, in our synagogues, in the streets, and in the halls of power. True safety doesn’t come from bombs, walls and repression; it comes from solidarity with all other communities facing bigotry and violence: immigrants, trans and queer people, Black and Indigenous communities, poor people, and critically, Palestinians.

We will continue to take courageous action, hold courageous conversations, and deepen our commitment to the Jewish tradition that sees every single life as an entire universe, until we win equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis.