Last Wednesday, members of the student organization Jews for Ceasefire Now concluded a weeks-long process to officially change their name to Jews for Palestinian Liberation. The decision comes after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in January.
The group has been one of the most prominent pro-Palestinian student activist organizations on campus. Twenty of their members were arrested in a November 2023 sit-in calling on the University to divest its endowment from companies affiliated with Israel.
Rafi Ash ’26, a JFPL spokesperson, said the new name aligns more closely with the organization’s long-standing goal to advocate for Palestinian liberation, beyond the demand for ceasefire.
Edie Fine ’25, JFPL media co-coordinator, said that the organization reached the name change through a series of votes. According to Ash, a working group formed prior to the start of the ceasefire and collated a list of possible new names. When the semester began, they brought the name options to general body meetings for discussion.
“A name is the first thing you see and understand about an organization,” Fine said. “It mattered a lot to everyone, so we took some time with it.”
But Fine emphasized that the ceasefire agreement was “not the deciding factor” for the name change.
“We’ve been considering a name change for a really long time,” they said.
JFPL Co-President Lily Gardner ’26 noted that the name “Jews for Collective Liberation” was considered. But members of the group, including Gardner, opted for a name that explicitly mentioned Palestine, saying it better articulated the organization’s goals and values.
“We decided we needed to have Palestine or Palestinian in our title,” Fine explained, adding that the choice was “a way to counteract the global erasure of Palestine, linguistically and rhetorically.”
Ash added that the new name “specifically platforms a positive vision of a free Palestine.”
Gardner explained that the name Jews for Ceasefire Now “was always intended to be temporary.” The group formed in November 2023, in a time when the possibility of a lasting ceasefire seemed unlikely.
In recent days, officials from both Hamas and Israel have accused the other of violating the terms of the ceasefire, leaving the future of the agreement uncertain.
JFPL leaders emphasized that the new name does not reflect a change in priorities. Instead, Fine said, it is “an explicit alignment with what our orientation and goals have historically been.”
Gardner also emphasized that alongside their political activism, JFPL is also a spiritual community. The organization continues to hold weekly Shabbat gatherings and provide a space for Jewish community members.
For the organization, the name change is just one step in a broader effort to strengthen their mission.
“For generations to come on this campus, we hope that incoming freshmen will know who we are right away,” Fine said. “We are Jews, and we are for Palestinian liberation.”
Annika Singh is a senior staff writer from Singapore who enjoys rewatching Succession and cheating on the NYT crossword.
