Jewish Voice for Peace-Kansas City

04/20/2026

Missourians are RISING UP on May Day — Friday, May 1! Will you join us, , and thousands of organizations for a day of disruption in cities and towns across the country? bit.ly/MOmayday26

We work hard to earn the bread 🍞 and roses 🌹 all working people deserve, but more and more we aren’t seeing the fruits of our labor. Bosses hold down our wages. Bigoted politicians turn us against each other to steal away our freedoms. Billionaires win, while we lose.

It doesn’t have to be this way! Workers have a long legacy of improving our lives by striking, rallying, and marching on bosses to make life better for us all.

We can’t afford to stay divided and defeated. Every day, more of our neighbors are kidnapped. Every day, more of our personal liberties are ripped away from us. Every day, the cost of gas and groceries climbs while our paychecks stall. We can’t wait for things to just magically change. No one is going to do it for us 🗣

When millions come together on International Workers’ Day to withhold our labor and spending, we’re going to 🛠️ put workers over billionaires, ❌🧊 end ICE terror and keep families together, and ✊🏾 win a democracy that works for all of us, no exceptions!

👉 Register now for our Zoom trainings to get ready for May Day:

No School — 4/27 @ 7pm | bit.ly/noMOschool
No Shopping — 4/20 @ 7pm | bit.ly/noMOshopping

02/19/2026

We’ve restructured! But it doesn’t change the core mission that guides the JVP family of organizations. We’re Jews organizing towards Palestinian liberation and Judaism beyond Zionism.

“JVP” is now the name of our 501(c)(4) organization; our 501(c)(3) work continues through the “JVP Leadership & Culture Lab” (or “JVP Lab” for short). The 501(c)(4), now doing business as JVP, can engage more directly in legislative and limited electoral-related work, including challenging the roles of Democratic and Republican officials and challenging AIPAC. The 501(c)(3), JVP Lab, will continue to carry out its educational, cultural and leadership-development mission.

02/15/2026

In a powerful op-ed published by the The Kansas City Star, JVP KC member Solomon Alpert shares why he opposes a current political effort that purports to protect Missouri's Jews but actually seeks to shield Israel from accusations of genocide in Gaza.

Alpert, a member of the Kansas City Jewish community, co-authored the op-ed with fellow JVP KC member Sam Brian. As they write, House Bill 2061 "claims to provide 'protections against discrimination and antisemitism in public schools and public postsecondary education institutions,' but this is a masquerade. In truth, H.B. 2061 is a targeted effort to chill Palestinian voices on campus, shield Israel from criticism and advance a far-right, anti-First Amendment agenda."

This shameful legislation is now awaiting a final vote in the House. On Monday, call your Missouri Senator and Representative and say NO to House Bill 2061, and NO to these related measures, House Bill 2393 and Senate Bill 1051. Use the link in our bio/comments below to use our tool to contact your reps - or visit bit.ly/MoNoIHRA (case sensitive).

The problem with these bills is they seek to adopt the dangerous and discredited International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism into public universities and secondary schools across the state. As Alpert and Brian write, this definition "brings heavy focus to criticism of Israel over and above instances of genuine antisemitism. Even its lead drafter, Kenneth Stern, has spoken out against the use of the working definition as a political code and sees it as a barrier to free speech when applied as law."

Simply put, these bills are a tool of censorship.

As Alpert and Brian write, supporters of H.B. 2061, including organizations such as the Combat Antisemitism Movement, "are playacting as protectors of Jewish students while pushing a partisan agenda that prioritizes right-wing political interests and shields Israel from what in any other context would be reasonable criticism of a country’s actions."

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article314649771.html

The bill, already adopted in Kansas, is a targeted effort to chill Palestinian voices on campus and shield Israel from criticism. | Opinion

02/11/2026

02/08/2026

UPDATE: The Jackson County Legislature hearing on two ICE-related measures has been rescheduled to next month!

Per Indivisible Kansas City: The Public Hearings on Ordinance #6050 and Ordinance #6061 have been rescheduled for Monday, March 2, 2026 at 3:00 PM at the Jackson County Courthouse, 415 East 12th Street, 2nd Floor, Kansas City Legislative Assembly Area.

Ordinance 6050 would ban law enforcement from wearing masks in Jackson Count. Ordinance 6061 which would prevent an ICE detention center in Jackson County.

To sign up to speak or to submit written testimony in support of these ordinances, email [email protected]. If you have already submitted written testimony for the public hearing, that is on file and will still be submitted on March 2nd.

02/06/2026

🚨Action Alert!🚨

JVP KC is sharing this call to action from Indivisible Kansas City. A chance to tell the Jackson County Legislature that you support two proposed, ICE-related measures!

When: Monday, Feb. 9 at 3 pm
Where: Eastern Jackson County Courthouse, 308 W Kansas Ave., Independence, MO
What: Voice your support for Ordinance 6050, which would ban law enforcement from wearing masks in Jackson County, and support for Ordinance 6061, which would prevent an ICE detention center in Jackson County

You can also email your comments to
[email protected]

02/06/2026

01/29/2026

🪧 ICE OUT RALLY THIS FRIDAY 1/30 🪧
After the murder of Alex Pretti, Minnesotans are calling on all of us to act boldly and show we are UNITED in demanding accountability for ICE agents who kill civilians and terrorize our families.
👉 Join us THIS Friday 1/30 at 5pm in Oppenstein Park (1123 Walnut St, KCMO 64106) to force ICE out of KC and all our cities — for good!
We’re also demanding Platform Ventures cut all ties with ICE and stop profiting off the masked armed agents violating our 4th amendment freedom from government violence.
Whether we’re Black, white, or Brown; native or newcomer; from MN or MO, we all deserve to feel safe in our homes and in our streets. Let’s show solidarity with our siblings in Minnesota and fight to keep our families safe.

01/27/2026

TLDR: Every single design you see - created by Al Hadaf KC for a renewed billboard campaign - was summarily rejected by two local billboard companies for being "too controversial".

GENOCIDE ISN'T CONTROVERSIAL.
It's repugnant; and the most heinous crime that can be committed.

THE DETAILS:
In February of 2024, Al Hadaf KC ran a two-month billboard campaign throughout the KC metro area to focus attention on the genocide in Palestine - largely funded by US taxpayers. We worked with Lamar Advertising to refine our messages and evaluate our impact.

In August of 2025, our community raised money for a second campaign with revised messages that spoke to the new depths of hell Palestinians had been plunged into over 2 years of continuous genocide. At first, our interactions with Lamar were pleasant… until they saw our messages. They questioned our statistics, and when we provided reputable sources, they rejected every message unless we revised them with the following criteria:

Will not post copy relating to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that:
1. Uses the term genocide.
2. Says or implies Palestine has been stolen with U.S. support.
3. Says or implies Israeli targets non-combatants.
4. Discusses U.S. foreign aid to either side.
5. Says or implies that Israel purposefully targeted the U.S.S. Liberty.

We left Lamar for Outfront Advertising, which followed the same pattern, rejecting our messages saying: "the message should be positive and broadly acceptable, avoiding anything that could be seen as controversial or negative".

Our reply: We cannot and will not "soften" the overall message of calling a genocide "a genocide".

Meanwhile, JewBelong has been running KC billboards, including one stating, "If you've ever screamed FREE PALESTINE, you helped pull the trigger" - referring to the murder of two Jewish people outside the Capital Jewish Museum in DC. We reject any claim that advocating for Palestinian safety is a call for violence on Jewish people. This conflation fuels anti-semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and anti-Muslim bias.

CALL TO ACTION: Email Lamar (https://lamar.com/en/contact-us) and Outfront (https://www.outfront.com/contact-us) to let them know you'd be THRILLED to see them respect free speech.

If any group would like to use these designs for billboard campaigns, posters, or murals, please contact us directly.

Thank you to -KC and for showing the indivisible unity in our struggles.
Nobody's free until everybody's free.

01/27/2026

As ICE agents terrorize communities across the country, murder and seriously injure immigrants and legal observers, neglect the urgent medical needs of the people they sn**ch into custody, and open fire regularly on community members, Congress is voting on whether to expand their funding.

Take action through to tell Congress:
NO FUNDING FOR ICE.
ACT NOW - link in bio

01/22/2026

In Minneapolis, ICE agents have been kidnapping and targeting immigrants as well as anyone who they deem to be “suspicious” (meaning not white). 

Renee Good, a mother and community member, was brutally murdered by an ICE agent. In response, the people of Minneapolis are fighting back. Labor and community organizations have united and made a coalition with a list of demands, including the immediate removal of ICE from Minnesota. Renee was also a resident of Kansas City until 2023.

Starting this Friday, the coalition of Minneapolis labor and community are calling for a strike and economic blackout, meaning no work, no school, and no shopping.

SURJ KC and others are answering the call. Learn more at www.iceoutnowmn.com