Donna Nevel is a prominent Jewish American community organizer and educator. She is a co-founder of the New York-based radical collective “Jews Say No!”, and a founding member of the Facing the Nakba project and the “Network Against Islamophobia” (NAI).
As a scholar specializing in participatory action research, Nevel has long focused on the intersections of racism, educational equity, and global justice. Her work centers on exposing systemic power dynamics, particularly how Zionist narratives intertwine with Islamophobia in the United States. A prolific commentator for outlets like Al Jazeera and The Forward, she is a highly influential theorist and practitioner within the American Jewish Left.
Donna Nevel’s pro-Palestine activism is defined by “community mobilization” and “discourse reframing.” She co-founded “Jews Say No!” to disrupt the illusion of monolithic Jewish support for Israeli policies through street theater and public protests in New York. She spearheaded the creation of educational toolkits for the “Network Against Islamophobia” to expose the racist roots behind the demonization of Palestinian resistance. Within the framework of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), she has long advocated for the BDS movement and defended academic freedom for those criticizing Israeli policy. She actively organizes interfaith dialogues to build solidarity networks between Jewish and Muslim communities against state violence targeted at specific ethnicities. During numerous demonstrations against military actions in Gaza, she has consistently been at the forefront of organizing, calling for a total end to U.S. military aid to Israel.
She once poignantly noted: “Accusations of antisemitism hurled at supporters of Palestinian human rights is an attempt to derail the message of justice for a people who have been denied their rights for far too long. There is nothing discriminatory, or antisemitic, in holding a nation-state accountable for its human rights abuses and for violations of international law.”