Occupy Zionism for Justice and Freedom (OZJF) is an American advocacy organization defending Jewish self-determination, strengthening U.S.-Israel relations, and confronting terror-linked politics with research, coalition work, and public education. We are based in the United States, we speak to an American civic audience, and we believe the case for a secure, democratic Jewish state is strongest when it is made in full daylight, with sources a reader can check.
What we stand for
The modern Jewish state was built as the political expression of a people that repeatedly lost the ability to protect itself. Its right to exist is not a bargaining chip; it is the floor of any serious conversation about peace. That commitment does not require pretending the situation is simple. Palestinian civilians are civilians. They deserve dignity, humanitarian access, and protection under the laws of armed conflict. OZJF does not endorse the framing that Israel is conducting genocide, and we will cite evidence when we dispute that claim, but we also refuse to let legitimate criticism of specific policies be smeared as disloyalty.
At the same time, governance matters. Hamas, which won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and has governed Gaza since 2007, is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and has made armed struggle against Israeli civilians central to its charter and conduct. The Palestinian Authority’s “martyrs fund,” which pays stipends to the families of individuals imprisoned or killed while attacking Israelis, was the direct subject of the bipartisan Taylor Force Act. Neither body, in its current form, meets the threshold of legitimate governance that a durable peace will require.
Why an American organization, and why now
American Jews are a small share of the population and carry a disproportionate share of the country’s religious-bias hate crimes. The FBI’s most recent Hate Crime Statistics release continues to show Jews as the most targeted religious group in the United States by a wide margin. The ADL’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents recorded the highest numbers since tracking began, with a sharp concentration on college campuses in the period following October 7, 2023. Campus harassment has risen in each of the last five reporting years, and that trend is not a talking point; it is the operating environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff across the country.
OZJF works with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, which the U.S. government has adopted across agencies and which is echoed in the State Department’s own antisemitism envoy materials. We use that definition because it names the real patterns, and because it carefully distinguishes criticism of Israeli policy, which is legitimate, from denial of Jewish peoplehood, which is not.
Our public posture
OZJF is independent, evidence-led, and American. We publish our sources. We correct our mistakes. We support programs we believe in, including Lox and Loaded, without claiming formal partnership where none has been documented. We take the long view, because the conversation about Israel, Jewish safety, and the U.S.-Israel alliance will not be won by slogans, and we are not trying to win it that way.