Jews speaking out on Arizona

by: Jeremy Burton

Mon Apr 26, 2010 at 10:08:00 AM EDT

As outrage over the new Arizona profiling and detention law continues to grow, Congregation Ikar in Los Angeles has organized this petition for Jews who want to speak out as Jews on this issue.

In part, and from the place of Jewish history:

We also remember those who found themselves trapped in Europe by racist immigration quotas implemented in our country in 1924. We recall the overwhelming refusal of the free world to accept Jewish refugees from Europe in the years leading up to World War II. And we recently campaigned to free our cousins in the Soviet Union, suffering under a totalitarian regime.

Our history compels us to identify with and support those who have sought a better life in the U.S. As Jews, we cannot stand idly by when we see immigrant parents separated from their children, undocumented youth who are unable to go to college, immigrant workers who are threatened with exploitation if they work, and with deportation if they protest.

Sign the petition here, read the full message after the jump.