Its working
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- Published on Wednesday, 04 May 2016 16:00
- Written by editor
Dear PAOV,
At the end of February, I sent you a quick update about what we’ve been working on recently here at JVP. Now, as Pesach draws to a close, and Jews around the world have spent the last week recommitting to struggles for justice, I want to do the same.
I wrote to you last month about our fight at the UC Regents (the governing body of the University of California). A proposal to include anti-Zionism as a form of anti-Semitism and discrimination has caused consternation among people fighting for Palestinian rights, as well as for all people concerned about free expression of political ideas -- not to mention those who care about history and the erasure of anti-Zionism from Jewish history!
On March 23rd, the UC Regents adopted the policy, though the language was softened so that only "anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism" were included. We can claim a partial victory, but the question of who will determine the boundary between the two, and the attendant threats to academic freedom and the freedom to speak out for Palestinian rights, are still a grave concern.
Attacks on the right to boycott have been cropping up all over the place -- earlier this month, a Congressional hearing convened to smear American Muslims for Palestine with spurious and Islamophobic attacks. And at universities around California, posters appeared all over campus that viciously and publicly smeared members of Students for Justice in Palestine.
But we’ve been fighting back against these attacks, and hard. We sent over 10,000 emails to Congress challenging the “Combating BDS” act, and fought back against anti-BDS legislation in state legislatures across the country. We sent billboard trucks to state capitols -- and to AIPAC -- making it clear that we stand for Palestinian human rights. Although in some states the bills passed, there were brave legislators in every state who voted no. And in Maryland, the Freedom2Boycott coalition, with strong participation from our JVP chapters in the region, stopped an anti-BDS bill from coming to the floor.
It’s also been an important month in the U.S. Presidential race, in particular because U.S. policies toward Israel were questioned in a rather refreshing way during a televised debate. As a 501c3 nonprofit, JVP cannot take positions on candidates or the election, but I was quoted in this New York Times piece which looked at shifts in the Jewish American community through the lens of the election. The times, they are a-changing!
Let me put it another way: the organizing and campaigning and media advocacy that you and me and so many others are doing is really starting to change the political conversation around Israel/Palestine.
Here’s another example, and one with real impact: the Unitarian Universalist Association has voted to divest itself from companies that profit from Israel’s human rights abuses.
We can help our allies at the Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East build on this victory by thanking the church for standing for justice. We’re putting together a giant thank-you card that we’ll hand deliver, and I’d love for it to get 2,500 signatures.
From the very earliest days of JVP, we’ve known that standing up, speaking out, and saying “thank you” isn’t just good manners -- it’s a political act. In 2007, back when JVP was a fraction of the size it is today, we launched one of our first big petitions, thanking Archbishop Desmond Tutu for having the courage to speak out against the occupation.
Archbishop Tutu was being hounded by pro-occupation groups in Minnesota, who tried to pressure a college into canceling an address he was due to give. That’s right: they were so appalled that he had the temerity to criticize Israel’s human rights abuses that they tried to cancel a speech by a Nobel Peace Prize winner. We weren’t having it, so we organized thousands to thank him for speaking out. Archbishop Tutu, in turn, thanked us publicly for our support. This is the kind of solidarity that builds our movement for the long-term.
So you can see why it is so critical that we show our allies at the Unitarian Universalist Association that we’re standing with them. Click here to sign our thank you card.
In other news, just from this month: we mobilized with our allies in Israel/Palestine to fight back against the demolition of Bedouin villages. We collected over 15,000 signatures urging Carlos Santana to cancel his concert in Tel Aviv. Our chapters held seders, some with as many as 150 people in attendance, in cities from coast to coast -- including one on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border, in solidarity with the struggles of immigrants. And we brought leaders from 13 chapters in the Northeast region to a leadership development institute, to strategize for the year ahead.
Meanwhile, the entire month of May we’ll be running a member drive. We’re hoping to bring 1,800 new members into JVP over the course of the month, to help strengthen our movement for the road ahead. This is a great excuse to have those conversations with friends, family, colleagues and communities that you otherwise might never have---and we’ll be offering all kinds of tools to help you recruit new members and build our strength. You’ll be hearing a lot more about how starting next week!
Until then, a sweet Pesach to all who are celebrating, and to liberation for all!
Rebecca
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Executive Director
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national membership organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all the people of Israel and Palestine. Become a JVP Member today.
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