Artikels/Articles The stakes are high because we're actually able to make change happen on Israel/Palestine right now
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Jewish voice for peace: most democrats consider BDS legitimate:
This is HUGE: a new poll shows that three quarters of Democrats who know what BDS is think it’s “a legitimate, peaceful way of opposing the Israeli occupation,” and nearly half support BDS outright!
I almost couldn’t believe it. We've NEVER seen public support for BDS like this before, and it’s already starting to take hold with Democractic lawmakers.
Multiple members of Congress are now talking about conditioning aid to Israel, and for the first time ever a leading presidential candidate voluntarily declared that Palestinians must be treated with dignity and respect!
The stakes are high because we're actually able to make change happen on Israel/Palestine right now. But defeating the anti-Palestinian voices in Congress is no simple task – and 2020 will be crucial.
Even though the fight sometimes seems like a massive boulder bearing down on us, we are actually making huge progress – and so in 2020 we’re gearing up for our most ambitious commitments yet:
- Adding more Members of Congress to the 22 already on McCollum’s conditioning military aid bill by educating our representatives, showing up at town halls, holding sit-ins in Congressional offices, and forcing our leaders to take a stance;
- Defending Women of Color leaders in Congress who are attacked for standing up for Palestinian rights, like organizing a Shabbat with Rashida Tlaib when she was denied entry to Palestine and standing with Ilhan Omar when she was attacked by Trump; and
- Standing up for BDS & free speech by fighting back against anti-BDS legislation and defending our right to boycott by fighting nefarious bills in Congress as well as at the state level, like when JVP Boston members showed up to testify against an unconstitutional anti-BDS bill in Massachusetts.
Through all of these plans we’re ALSO going to be doubling-down on building a broad, diverse, and powerful base – because we’ve seen time and again that it’s what happens outside D.C. that changes the equation inside.
These are big plans to meet a high-stakes moment where we can at long last make change happen on Israel/Palestine, and to make it happen we need your support.
The result from the poll I mentioned at the top is dramatic. But it’s backed up by a lot of research that underscores what you and I both know: a powerful, broad-based movement for justice for all people, including Palestinians, is blossoming in ways I only dreamed of when I started this work two decades ago.
I am so incredibly proud that JVP – and you – are at the heart of it.
Thanks for all you do,
