Current Actions

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• Do not censor the ads on our San Francisco city buses!

  Tell members of the Board of Supervisors to protect free speech in San Francisco. Protect the ability to criticize Israeli and US policies on MUNI buses and other public spaces.

  Please edit the letter to include your affiliation (particularly if you are Jewish, Muslim or Arab) and please emphasize your connection to the City of San Francisco. Thanks!  

• Send Congratulations to UC Berkeley organizers!

  INSERT CONTENT RE: result.

  This victoy (??????) is the result of tireless, creative, principled organizing by a huge network of UC Berkeley students (faculty? staff?).  In addition to the ad itself, we want them to know how many community members know about their important work - and how grateful we are for it.  Plese sign this card, and we'll deliver it to UCB organizers ourselves. 

• I Support Divestment at UC Berkeley- Sign Below

  We will post your name in support of the two-page ad below that will run in the UC Berkeley Daily Californian. The ad emphasizes Jewish support for divestment, but we are proud to also post names of non-Jewish supporters.  

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  Call and write your Representative now so we can outnumber AIPAC's thousands of lobbyists.

• Tell U.S. President Obama: No unconditional aid to Israel

  By the end of the day Tuesday, literally thousands of volunteer lobbyists for the extremist Israel lobby AIPAC will have swept through Washington, DC demanding that Israel, despite its refusal to abide by international law, continue to receive billions of dollars in unconditional U.S. aid. Let's outnumber the AIPAC lobbyists and show the President that the entire world wants peace, not war.
  
  We have to let President Obama know AIPAC doesn't speak in our name.

  This action is for those who live outside the United States. If you are from the U.S. - click here now to send a letter to Congress.
  

• Tell Congress: AIPAC Doesn't Speak for Me!

  In the next 48 hours, literally thousands of volunteer lobbyists for the pro-war Israel lobby group AIPAC will descend on Congress to demand that Israel continue to receive billions of dollars in unconditional U.S. aid.
  
  As Americans face $85 billion in cuts to basic necessities like education, heating assistance, and unemployment insurance, AIPAC is asking Congress to exempt Israel from any cut.

  Call and write your Representative now so we can out-number AIPAC's thousands of lobbyists.  
  
  Tell them that as a constituent and supporter of peace, you are asking them not to let AIPAC dictate US policy in the Middle East.  In the next few days, AIPAC lobbyists will:

  • Ask that aid to Israel be exempted from sequestration
  • Demand that US support for an Israeli strike on Iran, which would outsource decisions about the safety of the American people
  • Ask you to stay silent on the settlement building in E-1, which enable the Israeli government to drive a nail in the coffin of the peace process
    

  Please - Say No to AIPAC

  

• Sign: "Apartheid" is acceptable in Israel - it should be acceptable in the U.S.

  

  Numerous high-ranking Israeli officials, journalists and human rights groups have been using the term apartheid for years (see list below) to talk about Israel.

  But Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is using an unsubstantiated charge that Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel said Israel is in danger of “becoming an apartheid state” to label Hagel an Israel-hater and unsuitable for the job. 

  Tell Graham we will not accept his McCarthyite attempt to smear a U.S. citizen for using a term that has been used by numerous Israelis, including a former prime minister.
  

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  No one appointed professional bully Alan Dershowitz or bigoted extremist Dov Hikind the Official Spokesmen for The Jewish People and Gatekeepers of Academic Freedom.  But as long as they continue to act as though they own those job titles, we will continue to try to fire them.
  

  Their attack on free speech at Brooklyn College and the nonviolent Palestinian-led movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions is just the latest in a long series of destructive acts, built on smears and untruths. They promote violence and bully academics and students who don’t agree with them, all to help promote policies that are killing Israeli Jews and Palestinians.
  

  As Jewish Voice for Peace supporters, we say, You're Fired!

• Support Free Speech and Open Debate at Brooklyn College

  Jewish Voice for Peace's New York City chapter is co-sponsoring  an event at Brooklyn College on February 7^th, at which leading Palestinian rights activist Omar Barghouti and world-renowned scholar Judith Butler (who is also a member of JVP’s Advisory Board) are scheduled to give a talk about Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) on the campus of Brooklyn College.

  Unfortunately, the event is under attack, based on completely unfounded allegations of anti-Semitism.
  

  The truth is, boycott, divestment and sanctions are non-violent tools with a long history of being used by civil society to make social change, notably in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and the civil rights movement here in the United States.  In no way can it be construed as anti-Semitic.

  Please help send a message to Brooklyn College that any claims to speak for the Jewish community against this event are not accurate!

• Tell President Obama

  When nominating the next Secretary of Defense, make your decision based on who you believe is the best person for the job, not who AIPAC approves of.

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  Help us deliver this message: Mr. President, please condition US aid to Israel on compliance with the law which states that it cannot be used to violate the rights of Palestinians.  
  
  

• We stand with you

  Fifteen church leaders have asked are urging Congress to ensure that U.S. aid to Israel is in compliance with U.S. laws. They are being attacked by some Jewish organizations for daring to ask that Israel not be singled out, but rather be treated like any other nation. Join us in our show of support for the leaders' principled stand!

• APHA Members to TIAA-CREF: We Want an Occupation-Free Retirement Fund!

  We are members of the American Public Health Association and many of us are TIAA-CREF participants and investors who are deeply concerned that TIAA-CREF invests in many companies that profit from Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in violation of international law.

  As public health professionals, we want to see TIAA-CREF divest from the Israeli Occupation. It is well documented that the Israeli occupation has done great damage to the health of the population of the occupied Palestinian territories. Israeli soldiers have been known to prevent Palestinian ambulances from transporting critically ill and/or wounded patients to nearby  medical facilities (1). Vitally needed training for medical professionals is stifled and there are frequent shortages of medicine and medical supplies throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories (2). Palestinians face chronic malnutrition and psychological trauma (3). Travel restrictions strangle social and economic life (4). Palestinian homes are destroyed on a regular basis (5). In August 2012, the United Nations reported that Gaza will no longer be "liveable" by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to improve water supply, power, health, and schooling (6). 

  Some of the companies in which TIAA-CREF invests provide weapons and covert surveillance equipment that maintains the Occupation by force and puts civilians at risk. Others take or exploit Palestinian resources, including scarce water and even the land itself. All are profiting from Israel's violations of international law and international human rights standards.

  Some examples:

  • CATERPILLAR profits from the destruction of Palestinian homes and the uprooting of Palestinian orchards by supplying the armor-plated and weaponized bulldozers that are used for such demolition work.
  • VEOLIA profits from the construction and expansion of illegal Jewish-only settlements by operating a landfill in the West Bank, exploiting Palestinian natural resources to serve the settlements, and by contracting for the future operation of an illegal light rail system connecting these settlements with Jerusalem.
  • NORTHROP GRUMMAN profits from the production of parts for the Apache helicopters and F-16 aircrafts used by Israel against civilians in Gaza during Israel’s 2008-09 assault.
  • ELBIT profits from the confiscation of Palestinian land by providing surveillance equipment that is mounted on the Separation Wall, which was declared unlawful by the International Court of Justice.
  • MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS profits from Israel’s control of the Palestinian population by providing surveillance systems around Israeli settlements, checkpoints, and military camps in the West Bank, as well as communication systems to the Israeli army and West Bank settlers.

  While the specific companies held change over time, TIAA-CREF’s investment criteria, even in their social choice funds, do not screen out such investments, which are incompatible with our values and with corporate social responsibility standards of not profiting from war.

  Out of commitment to equality, human rights, and international law, we therefore urgently request that:

  • TIAA-CREF create at least one social choice fund that is free from any companies that: 
    • Directly profit from or contribute to the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
    • Provide products or services that contribute to the construction and maintenance of Israeli settlements and/or the Separation Wall, both of which are illegal under international law.
    • Provide products or services that contribute to or enable violent acts that target civilians.

  For almost 100 years, TIAA-CREF has striven to provide financial services for the greater good, helping those in the academic, medical, cultural, and research fields to plan for and live in retirement. Please help all TIAA-CREF participants invest the fruit of their labor and enjoy their retirement in good conscience. Please create an Occupation-free social choice fund.

  Signed:

• Stand up to the bullies in our community!

  The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has placed ads in Jewish newspapers vilifying rabbis who are critical of the Israeli occupation. This is not about the elections, but about demonizing the vast majority of American Jews who oppose Israeli settlements. We will not be bullied. Sign below to join our ads in response! Unless otherwise indicated, your name will be published online. Due to space limitations, we will only be able to print a limited number of names in the ads.  

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  The California Assembly just passed HR 35 which conflates pro-Palestinian speech on California campuses with anti-Semitism.  The Assembly passed this resolution in less than a month over the summer, as such no students could participate in the process or challenge something with serious implications for their lives.  Tell legislators that you disagree with their decision.  Let’s use this as an opportunity to tell policymakers that criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic and that you support an open campus discussion of important issues, not the stifling of views.

• Statement of Support for Rabbis

  The Republican Jewish Committee and William Kristol-led Emergency Committee for Israel are waging a campaign of demonization against some members of Rabbis for Obama  in a cynical effort to win the presidential race by sowing divisions in the Jewish community. If you are a Jewish leader, please add your name to this statement of support.

• Open Letter to Governor Mitt Romney: Apologize to the Palestinian People

   Tell Mitt Romney that his racism and ignorance in Jerusalem was unacceptable.

• Tell TC you expect public engagement with Caterpillar who profits from demolishing Palestinian's homes

  TIAA-CREF has over $1 billion invested in Caterpillar and claims to prefer engagement with companies over divestment. Yet, TIAA-CREF was nowhere to be seen at today’s annual Caterpillar shareholder meeting—the prime location for engagement with the company’s profiteering from the Israeli occupation. Send TIAA-CREF’s CEO a note to let him know you are watching and you expect public—not backroom—engagement with companies, like Caterpillar, profiting from Israel's occupation.

• 14th Street Y: Let Young Jews Go & Learn

  

  On Friday evening, May 25th, at 8 pm Eastern, Stephen Hazan Arnoff, Executive Director of the 14th Street Y, called to cancel the “Go & Learn” event organized by Young, Jewish, and Proud less than 48 hours before the event was scheduled to begin. YJP, the young adult branch of Jewish Voice for Peace, had a signed contract and had paid to rent the space from the 14th Street Y for a room that holds 75 people. Arnoff cited concerns about attendance exceeding our agreed limit even though there were only 40 RSVP’s as of Friday evening. The Go & Learn event, part of a national series, is designed to encourage open conversation about the Palestinian Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) and in honor of Shavuot, a Jewish holiday of study. The 14th Street Y’s last minute cancellation is emblematic of a larger trend of silencing discussion on Palestinian nonviolent movements within the Jewish community.
  
  Sign here to add your name to a message to Stephen Hazan Arnoff urging him to allow young Jews to Go & Learn. We will deliver the letter to him personally.

• Thank FFC for Divesting from Caterpillar!

  The Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation has divested $900,000 in Caterpillar shares! Jewish Voice for Peace and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation are jointly gathering endorsements for this letter of thanks. Your signatures wll be combined and delivered to FFC.

• I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian Hunger Strikers

  Israel has long imprisoned Palestinians without charge, a practice called "adminstrative detention." But now Palestinians are making history by nonviolently resisting these abuses with a 2,000 prisoner hunger strike.

  Their demand is just: freedom from arrest without charge, the right of habeas corpus, is at the foundation of international human rights. The hunger strikers have inspired support actions from Palestinians and Israeli allies, as well as from international human rights organizations like Amnesty International.
  
  Two of the hunger strikers are near death. We need to bring them justice before it's too late. Please add your name to petition to end administrative detention below.

• Thank you 60 Minutes

  On April 22, Bob Simon and the US news show "60 Minutes" shared the painful truth with 13 million viewers — the primary cause for the exodus of Palestinian Christians from the Holy Land is the nearly 45 year-old illegal Israeli occupation. Now "60 Minutes" is being attacked for telling the truth. A range of Israel-first partisan groups have gone on the attack against CBS, and they have received over 29,000 emails of complaint. If "60 Minutes" backs down, then other media outlets will do the same. Sign the petition below to be sure that CBS hears from supporters for its brave and truthful reporting.

• Thank Friends Fiduciary for divesting from Caterpillar

  The Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation has divested $900,000 in Caterpillar shares!  Jewish Voice for Peace and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and are jointly gathering endorsements for this letter of thanks. Your signatures wll be combined and delivered to FFC. You can endorse as an individual or, if you are authorized to do so, on behalf of an organization.

• Stop silencing the next generation of Jewish leaders.

  A month after Young, Jewish, and Proud: Jewish Voice for Peace's young adult wing registered to table at Jewish Federations' TribeFest, "the premiere event for young North American Jews ages 22-45," that permission to table was rescinded by the Jewish Federations. Please sign the open letter below to let the Jewish community know you are tired of these efforts to silence our young people. Anyone may add their name who believes in open discussion, please also let us know if you are Young, Jewish, and Proud yourself.

• Hewlett-Packard: Stop printing oppression.

  Before Hewlett-Packard’s meeting on Wednesday, March 21! Please fill in the form below to send your message to the HP Board of Directors: "Don't allow your products to be used in the oppression of the Palestinians.”

  Note: We are getting reports that some people are experiencing difficulty having their emails go through to the HP Board of Directors. If you are experiencing trouble, go here:bit.ly/HP-SendYourEmailHere

• Hewlett Packard: Stop printing oppression.

  Before Hewlett-Packard’s meeting on Wednesday, March 21! Please fill in the form below to send your message to the HP Board of Directors: "Don't allow your products to be used in the oppression of the Palestinians.”

  Note: We are getting reports that some people are experiencing difficulty having their emails go through to the HP Board of Directors. If you are experiencing trouble, go here: bit.ly/HP-SendYourEmailHere

• Jewish Statement about Attacking Iran, March 5, 2012

  Please scroll down to add your name to this public letter.  
  

  We, the undersigned American Jewish clergy, are deeply concerned about reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu will demand of President Obama, at their meeting at the White House today, that either the United States attack Iran, or else, Israel will.

  We do not welcome the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran. We call on all the military forces in the region - including Israel's - to divest themselves of their nuclear armaments and renounce any belligerent nuclear aspirations.

  The State of Israel refuses to acknowledge its own nuclear arsenal or to submit to international monitoring. We believe it is hypocritical of Israel to demand of Iran what it refuses to agree to itself.

  Most of the people of the State of Israel oppose Prime Minister Netanyahu's military threats against Iran. They fear the consequences of an attack on Iran. As Jewish leaders, we too believe that the path of wisdom towards achieving peace and stability in the region is through dialog and engagement and not through acts of war. We call on the United States government to safeguard the interests of the people of Israel and Iran.

  Nine years after the United States launched a war against Iraq that is widely recognized as having been badly executed and unjustified, Israel would have the U.S. implicate itself in a new war in the region, this time against Iran. We believe that Jews, and other Americans, will not support more reckless adventurism in the Middle East.

  In this election year, we call on President Obama not to give in to warmongering. As Jewish leaders we cannot endorse an Israeli act of war against the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Bible teaches us: "bakesh shalom v'rodfehu -  seek peace and pursue it." We urge President Obama to stand firm and to use his power as Israel’s chief supporter to draw Israel to the path of peace and justice.

  Cantor Michael Davis, Evanston, IL
  Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, Re’ut, Israel
  Rabbi Rebecca Lillian, Malmö, Sweden
  Rabbi Rachel Barenblatt, Lanesboro, MA
  Rabbi Brant Rosen, Evanston, IL
  Rabbi Rebecca Alpert, Philadelphia, PA
  Rabbi Julie Greenberg, Philadelphia, PA
  Rabbi Margaret Holub, Albion, CA
  Rabbi Shai Gluskin, Philadelphia, PA
  Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer, Claremont, CA
  Michael Ramberg, Rabbinical Student, RRC, Philadelphia, PA
  Rabbi Joseph Berman, Jamaica Plain, MA
  Alana Alpert, Rabbinical Student, Hebrew College, Boston, MA
  Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Stony Point, NY
  Rabbi Howard Cohen, Bennington, VT
  Rabbi Brian Walt, West Tisbury, MA
  Rabbi David Mivasair, Vancouver, BC
  Rabbi Eyal Levinson, Israel, OT

   

• MUZZLED:Add your name to our AIPAC truck ad

  THIS AD CAMPAIGN WAS MUZZLED. After contracts were signed and money paid, the truck company confirmed after the truck was set to run that they will not honor our agreements. We were informed that they have other business with AIPAC. We will not be silenced. Please feel free to sign the ad--we will come back with something bigger and better and we will send a message to Congress that AIPAC does not represent you. Stay tuned.  
  
  Send a clear message to Congress, the media and heads of state that AIPAC doesn't represent you.
  
  

• Stop the silencing at the NYC LGBT Center

  The NYC LGBT Center has imposed a ban on Palestine solidarity activists from meeting at the Center and has instituted a "moratorium" on any discussion on the Israeli occupation. This Saturday, March 3, NYC Queers Against Israeli Apartheid will "occupy the Center" in symbolic protest. Stand in solidarity with them. Help us send 1,000 letters by Saturday March 3. The Center has been bullied by wealthy donors to adopt this position. Tell the Center's backers that we will stand with the Center against the bullies, but only if the Center stops its censorship policy.

  Fill out the form below to send your letter to Glennda Testone, Executive Director of the NYC GLBT Center. We will also send a copy to Christine Quinn, the NY City Council Speaker who happens to be queer and who represents the district where the Center is located. We will send a separate copy to Troy Masters, the Associate Publisher of Gay City News, New York City's LGBT paper. 

• Free Freedom Rider Fadi Quran

  
  In the above video, you can see the assault on Palestinian nonviolent youth activist and recent Stanford graduate Fadi Quran. Fadi is a powerful and committed nonviolent leader. This past November, inspired by the US Civil Rights Movement, Fadi helped lead the Palestinian Freedom Rides during which he and 5 other Palestinian activists attempted to board segregated buses travelling to East Jerusalem. Jewish Voice for Peace helped coordinate solidarity actions for the Freedom Rides in 20 cities across the US. Fadi has been hailed by activists across the world as well as The New York Times and Times magazine as an important new leader of the nonviolent popular resistance movement in Palestine and Israel. At Jewish Voice for Peace, we know how much we all need visionary leaders like Fadi—we stand by him now as we did during the freedom rides. Please join us in signing below.

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• Take a stand for free speech at the Olympia Food Coop

  Video: Statement of Solidarity with the Olympia Food Co-op: 

  Stand with the Olympia Food Co-op against censorship. Please add your name below.

• No more tears. No more death.

  
  Red circles show the weapon and the tear gas canister that killed Mustafa Tamimi
  Photo:  Israeli activist Haim Schwarczenberg.
  
  The US Congress must call on the State Department to investigate the use of American-made tear gas canisters, bought with U.S. military aid, and used to target civilians.
  (For background, go here).

• Freedom for the Freedom Riders! Write the State Department

  
  On November 15th, a historic group of Palestinian Freedom Riders, inspired by the US Civil Rights movement attempted to board segregated buses serving Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Their attempt to exercise their right to liberty and dignity by disrupting the military regime of the Occupation through peaceful civil disobedience was met with violent arrest. Please write a letter to the State Department demanding an end to Israel's discriminatory restrictions on freedom of movement and allow the next group of Freedom Riders through. This action was coordinated with the Palestinian Freedom Riders and the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.
  For background information, click here.
  

• Tell President Obama "Don't Punish UN"

  United States Public Law 101-246 mandates an automatic US cut-off of any contributions to the UN or its agencies that allow Palestine as a member.  Tell President Obama to ask Congress to waive provisions in the law which bar him from overriding its mandate  for the sake of national interests, and to eventually overturn the law.
  
  This law has already led to a cut of over 20% of the budget of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and made the United States look ridiculous in the eyes of the world. If it remains on the books we may stop our financial contributions to the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency and many other vital international bodies should they also vote for Palestinian inclusion. This will lead to the weakening of critical global institutions and the increased marginalization of the United States.

• Don't punish the UN for supporting Palestinian freedom

  
  United States public Law 101-246 mandates an automatic US cut-off of any contributions to the UN or its agencies that allow Palestine as a member.  Tell your Congressional Representative to waive provisions in the bill which bar the US president from overriding its mandate  for the sake of national interests, and to eventually overturn the bill.
  
  This law has already led to a cut of over 20% of the budget of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and made the United States look ridiculous in the eyes of the world. If it remains on the books we may stop our financial contributions to the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency and many other vital international bodies should they also vote for Palestinian inclusion. This will lead to the weakening of critical global institutions and the increased marginalization of the United States.

  If you are outside of the United States, send a message to President Obama here.

• Your action will not silence us

  The Jewish Federations of North America hold a contest to decide who is a Jewish hero. If you support human rights for Israelis and Palestinians you are apparently disqualified from running. Please send a letter to Jerry Silverman (the Federations' President and CEO) and the rest of their Executive Team. Add a comment of your own if you like, and then share it with everyone you know, Jews or not, who know that this is wrong.
  (for background, go here).

• Your action will not silence us

  The Jewish Federation of North America holds a contest to decide who is a Jewish hero. If you support human rights for Israelis and Palestinians you are apparently disqualified from running. Please sign our open letter, add a comment of your own if you like, and then share it with everyone you know, Jews or not, who know that this is wrong.

• Tell Clinton and Rice "It's Time."

  The Palestinians are seeking membership in the United Nations as a way to enhance their ability to press for freedom and justice. But the United States is opposed to this move and has threatened to cast its 42nd UN veto in 40 years opposing Palestinian human rights.
  

  Please add your name below and make sure this time the United States is not what keeps the Palestinians from determining their own future.
  

  The vote is just one step, and only a beginning. It won’t end the occupation or suddenly mean a viable Palestinian state, but it will recognize the right to Palestinian self-determination, give our movement additional tools in moving toward a truly just resolution, and give fresh hope to all the people of Palestine and Israel who deserve to live in freedom and democracy.
  

• Tell TIAA-CREF CEO Roger Ferguson he can't run from Occupation.

  Over 20,000 of you have signed the petition calling on TIAA-CREF to divest from Israel's occupation. If you haven't already added your name, you can do so here. The company's Trustees usually hold their annual meeting in New York, but after all the questions they got about Palestine last year, they decided to meet this year in Charlotte, NC instead. TIAA-CREF has also blocked a shareholder proposal about the Israeli occupation. It's time to tell TIAA-CREF to stop avoiding the issue. TIAA-CREF cannot run from occupation. Before July 19, add your information below to join the open letter to CREF CEO Roger Ferguson and send him a copy. Please feel free to personalize your message and mention whether you have TIAA-CREF.

• Let Our People Go

  On July 1st, the U.S. Boat to Gaza, "The Audacity of Hope", set sail, only to be stopped by the Greek Coast Guard. Armed Greek soldiers approached the boat when it tried to set sail, and the boat and its passengers are still banned from sailing to Gaza. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is an international nonviolent grassroots effort to highlight the illegality of Israel's siege of 1.6 million Palestinians living in Gaza. Israel is trying to block the flotilla by all means at its disposal. Please tell the US State Department and the Greek Embassy to let the boats safely leave port so they can reach the people of Gaza.

  Israel and the United States have been putting pressure on Greece to keep the second civil society Gaza Freedom Flotilla from setting sail, one year after the Israeli military killed 9 passengers aboard the first flotilla. 
  
  

• Tell President Obama to hold Netanyahu accountable

  On May 24th, the world was appalled by the sight of members of both houses of Congress rising to applaud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 29 times. By publicly calling on negotiations based on '67 borders, US President Obama took only a baby step towards holding Israel accountable. Please tell Obama he needs to do more and that the international community is horrified by this outrageous display of approval. Human rights abusers should be held accountable, not applauded.

• Tell Congress, "No More Applause."

  
  If you are outraged by the 29 standing ovations U.S. Congress gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, please write your member of Congress to tell them, "No more applause." No more adulation for the people responsible for the violation of Palestinian human rights. It's time to hold them accountable.

  FEEL FREE TO EDIT THE LETTER SO IT IS IN YOUR OWN WORDS

  This action is for U.S. residents only, please click here to write to President Obama if you are an international resident.

• Call for freedom for Bassem and Naji Tamimi

  Bassem and Naji Tamimi have organized unarmed protests in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. The protests have featured women prominently, and have focused on an end to occupation: of land, of minds, of hearts— for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

  The Israeli army has reponded with raids, arrests, and injuries to men, women, and children. Now they have arrested Bassem and Naji in order to break the spirit of the village. Based on testimony illegally coerced of a 14 year-old, Bassem and Naji are imprisoned without trial. Their freedom will depend on all of us speaking out.

  Please send an email to the U.S. Department of State:

  (International residents click here to participate in Popular Struggle Coordination Committee's action alert.)

• Support academic freedom: Give Tony Kushner his honorary degree!

  For the first time in its history, CUNY's Board of Trustees has overturned an honorary degree given by one of its colleges, overturning an honorary degree that was to be given to Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. This unprecedented decision came about because Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a CUNY trustee, disagrees with Tony Kushner over Israeli policy. Wiesenfeld has a long history of stifling dissent: he opposed the Khalil Gibran International Academy, the first dual-language Arabic public school in the country; opposed the rights of Muslims to build a Muslim Community Center in Lower Manhattan; and more recently, tried to block Kristofer Petersen-Overton’s appointment as an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College because of his political opinions about Palestine and Israel.
  
  Join playwright Eve Ensler, author Naomi Klein, Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews Say No, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, and Jews Against Islamophobia in telling the CUNY Board of Trustees to apologize and overturn their unjust decision.  Join us in standing up for academic freedom and freedom of association. Join us in saying, that no one—whether a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright revered by the academy, or a Palestinian speaking out for her people, or a young doctoral student just starting their career—should be subject to blacklist or censor based on an arbitrarily imposed judgement of a sufficient level of approval for Israel. Sign the petition below, and we’ll bring you with us when we deliver them to the CUNY Board of Trustees.

• Tell Congress to attach strings to US military aid to Israel

  Tell your Boston-area members of Congress, "Our money comes with strings attached."  You have probably seen the ads around the Boston "T," calling on the US Government to "Be on our Side," the side of peace and justice. The ads feature ordinary Palestinians and Israelis telling how unconditional military aid harms them. Please support this campaign by calling for conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel so it cannot be used for human rights abuses against Palestinains and to further damage Israeli democracy. 
  
  Not from Massachusetts? Click here to write your own members of Congress and President Obama.

• Tell Jewish National Fund's World Chairman: Freeze all village demolitions on Bedouin land

  The last bulldozer has left Al-Arakib, a Bedouin village in the Negev Desert inside Israel, after the village was demolished 21 times. Let's make sure there is no 22nd time! Write Jewish National Fund World Chairman  Efi Stenzler and tell him to announce a permanent freeze on all demolitions and forestation in the Negev, and for him to work on a permanent and mutually agreed-upon solution with all peoples of the Negev.

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• Tell US Consulate: Let Omar Barghouti speak to us

  Effectively canceling a planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has inexplicably delayed the granting of a visa for Omar Barghouti, founding member of the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) campaign, due to tour the United States this April for the release of his new book, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. The book publishers have asked for our help.
  
  Contact the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem and the Department of State to ask them to fulfill the promise from the Obama Administration of "promoting the global marketplace of ideas" and grant Barghouti's visa immediately. Demand your right to hear this key leader in the nonviolent struggle for a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

• Orange County DA: Charge me for interrupting for human rights

  On February 8, 2010, protestors at the University of California-Irvine spoke out one by one during a speech by Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. They did so to give voice to the people silenced by the policies of Oren's government. After their protest, they faced a crackdown from their university, which suspended the organization that many of them belonged to, the Muslim Students Union. And now they face unprecedented criminal charges from the Orange County DA.

  They need your support.

  If you have ever interrupted a person or event to take a stand for human rights and equality, the Orange County DA might consider YOU a criminal. Please add your name below to confess your crime, so the DA knows just how widespread these values of civil disobedience and justice are.  

  We will make sure this petition gets hand-delivered to the DA's office. Our deadline is Monday, February 7.

• Urge U.S. Not to Veto Israeli Settlements Resolution
  

  Palestinian house being demolished to make way for Israeli settlement construction.

  A key resolution on the Israel-Palestine conflict is before the UN Security Council. The resolution embraces negotiations, endorses the creation of a Palestinian state, and demands an immediate halt to Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, largely echoing stated US policy. Despite this fact, forces in Washington who want to protect the Israeli occupation are pressuring President Obama to veto the UN resolution.

  Join Jewish Voice for Peace and Just Foreign Policy in urging President Obama to support the UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by using the form below.

• Tell the U.S. State Department: Let Adnan Stay in Jerusalem!

  Adnan Gheith, a Palestinian political organizer from the neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem is about to be expelled for 4 months from Jerusalem--the city where he was born and where he lives--for daring to oppose the home demolitions in his neighborhood. Email the U.S. State Department and request that they speak up against his expulsion and the demolitions.
  

  Below you will find a brief suggested letter. Please take a minute to personalize it and send it today.

  NOT in the U.S.? Follow this link to take action via the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: http://www.popularstruggle.org/adnan-gheith

• Young Jewish and Proud

  Young Jews with the Jewish Voice for Peace Leadership Institute use nonviolent direct action to advance the cause of Palestinian human rights and reclaim the mantle of Jewish leadership based on universal justice. Watch them disrupt Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the New Orleans Jewish Federation General Assembly.

  Sign below to join over 4,000 others and show your support for their actions. (Names will not be published.)
  

• PETITION TO TIAA-CREF

   

• Tell Obama to make Israel accountable to international law

  Israel's army shocked the world by invading a ship bound for Gaza with badly needed food, medical, and reconstruction aid and killing the international peace activists on board. Tell President Obama the entire world wants him to condemn the immoral and illegal May 31 attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, demand a full and independent international investigation and the release of the activists, and withhold military aid to Israel until it abides by international law, including ending the siege of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem. 
  

• Tell Congress and Obama No Aid for Siege of Gaza or Attacks on Allies

  If you are not a US Citizen, go here.

  Israel's army shocked the world by invading a ship bound for Gaza with badly needed food, medical, and reconstruction aid and killing the international peace activists on board. Tell Congress and President Obama to condemn the immoral and illegal May 31 attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, demand a full and independent international investigation and the release of all detainees immediately, and withhold military aid to Israel until it abides by international law, including ending the siege of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem. 
  

• Victory for free expression at Pride Toronto

  On June 23, Pride Toronto reversed its earlier decision to ban an LGBT community group for the first time in its 30 year history. "Queers Against Israeli Apartheid," composed of queer Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, and many others, will not be censored by Pride after a community outcry, including performers, speakers, former grand parade marshals, and many others.
  

  LIke all courageous and moral decisions, there will be those who oppose it. Please thank Pride Toroto for doing the right thing and make sure they continue to stand up to bullying and for the freedom of expression of all voices in the LGBT community.
  
  

  PLEASE PERSONALIZE THE TEXT BELOW

   
  

• Jewish Leaders: Denounce Israel's Increasing Repression

  

  Years ago, leading Jewish and human rights groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center played critical roles in promoting the idea of universal rights. But tragically, this legacy has been crumbling for some time. Today, it is in danger of disappearing altogether. Israel is becoming more and more like a police state each day, while these leaders say nothing.

  Ask American Jewish leaders to denounce Israel's increasing violations of human rights, dignity, and democratic values such as midnight raids on activists, media gag orders, crushing nonviolent protest, and silencing NGO's.

• Stand up for divestment in San Diego

  Thanks for speaking out! You are almost done. Please write to the remaining 20 student senators so everyone gets the same important message, for human rights and against occupation. 

  How to send an email:
  1. Take a look at the suggested letter below. Customize it in your own words.
  2. Also, if you are a connected to the UC system, say so. If you are Jewish or Israeli, say so. If you or your family live under occupation, say so.
  3. Scroll down past the list of names (these are the people that will receive your email), and you will find additional fields and the SEND YOUR MESSAGE button.

  Thanks!

• Stand up for divestment in San Diego

  WE ARE NOT SENDING MORE LETTERS TO UC SAN DIEGO SENATORS AT THIS TIME.

  PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GET TO WWW.STANDWITHSTUDENTS.ORG
  

  ALSO, SIGN A PETITION HERE

  FOR UPDATES ON THE SAN DIEGO DIVEST FOR PEACE INITIATIVE, GO HERE: WWW.UCSDDIVESTFORPEACE.ORG
  

  THANKS!

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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  CLOSED ACTION ALERT

  Tomorrow, April 28, students at UC San Diego will be considering for the first time a bill to divest from occupation. The San Diego bill--very similar to the one that will be discussed by UC Berkeley that very same night--calls for divestment from General Electric and United Technologies, as well as divestment from any other company that a) provides military support for/or weaponry to support the occupation of the Palestinian territories or b) facilitates the building or maintenance of the illegal wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes, or c) facilitates the building, maintenance, or economic development of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.

  The San Diego students need your help right now, since the backlash against the bill has already started. Please write an email to the student senators. Ask them to support the bill.

  How to send an email:
  1. Take a look at the suggested letter below. Customize it in your own words.
  2. Also, if you are a connected to the UC system, say so. If you are Jewish or Israeli, say so. If you or your family live under occupation, say so.
  3. Scroll down past the list of names (these are the people that will receive your email), and you will find additional fields and the SEND YOUR MESSAGE button.

  Thanks!

• Stand up for divestment

  OOPS- WE SENT YOU TO THE WRONG PLACE.

  PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GET TO WWW.STANDWITHSTUDENTS.ORG
  

  WE ARE NOT SENDING MORE LETTERS TO SENATORS AT THIS TIME.

• Tell US President Obama: No more unconditional aid to Israel

  Tell US President Obama that you support his demand for an end to settlement construction.
  

  AIPAC's annual Washington DC policy conference has begun, and thousands of members will be telling Congress that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are being too hard on Israel. Why? Because the US dares to insist that Israel freeze illegal settlement expansion.
  
  Tell US President Obama that you support the administration's demands for an end to settlement construction. Tell them they need to do more. Ask them to withhold US aid to Israel until it agrees to abide by international law including ending settlement construction, and lifting the blockade on Gaza.

• Tell Congress that AIPAC doesn't speak for you, no more unconditional aid

  Send a letter to Congress now- say no to Israeli settlements and unconditional aid, the primary barriers to peace.

  AIPAC's annual Washington DC policy conference has started, and thousands of members will be telling Congress that the Obama administration and Hillary Rodham Clinton are too hard on Israel. Why? Because the US dares to insist that Israel freeze illegal settlement expansion.
  
  Now is the time to let Congress know that AIPAC doesn't speak for you. Demand full accountability. Ask Congress to withhold aid to Israel until it agrees to abide by international law--including ending settlement construction and lifting the blockade on Gaza.
  

• Tell Obama and Congress that AIPAC doesn't speak for you, no more unconditional aid

  On March 21, over 7,000 AIPAC activists will converge in Washington DC to lobby for unconditional support for Israel. It is precisely this unconditional support that has helped fuel the massive increase in illegal settlements, the primary obstacle to peace. Let Congress know that AIPAC doesn't speak for you!

  Tell Congress you support President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton's demands for an end to settlement construction, but that they need to
  Tell them they need to withhold US aid to Israel until it agrees to abide by international law including ending settlement construction, and lifting the blockade on Gaza.

• Tell Congress to withhold funds to Israel until they play by the rules

  AIPAC wants to protect Israel's right to build 1,600 Jewish-only housing units--50,000 within the decade-- in East Jerusalem, land that belongs t th

  Unconditional US support for Israel has helped fuel the massive increase in illegal settlements, the primary obstacle to peace. Let Congress know that AIPAC doesn't speak for you!

  Tell Congress you support President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton's current demands on the Israeli government.
  Tell them to withhold US aid to Israel until it agrees to abide by international law including ending settlement construction, and lifting the blockade on Gaza. 

• Thank your Congressperson for standing up for Gaza

  Last December, we asked you to make one phone call to Congress for the sake of Gaza. Many of you did, and 54 Congresspeople heard you loud and clear. That's the number of Congressional Representatives who signed onto the Jim McDermott and Keith Ellison letter to President Obama -- sent this week -- which criticizes Israel's blockade of Gaza as "de facto collective punishment" leading to the "unabated suffering of Gazan civilians," and calling for a lifting of the restrictions imposed by the blockade.

  We are sending you this email because you live in one of the 54 Congressional Districts represented in the letter. Would you send a quick email thanking your Congresspeson?

• Tell Egypt you stand in solidarity with Gaza

  Please tell Egypt to let the Freedom Marchers enter Gaza this coming December 31 and to stop building another separation wall between Egypt and Gaza. Your emails will be sent to the Palestine Division in the Egyptians Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo, and to the Egyptian Embassy in the US.
  
  If you are not in the US, please send this email, and additionally please email the Egyptian Consulate in your country. Contact your local consulate here:
  http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/mfa_websits/, and copy and paste the suggested text below.

  If you've already sent this email and wish to send a second email, please click the 'send your message button' (no need to to provide all contact info again)
  
  Thanks!

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• Tell the US Consulate in Jerusalem about Mohammad Othman

  DEC 6 UPDATE: Mohammad Othman is in 'administrative detention,' technically until December 22. But on December 15 a new hearing will likely call for an extension. Your calls and emails are still needed!

  On November 23, 2009, after 61 days in jail, Mohammad Othman has received his first administrative detention order for a three month period -- a period where Mohammad will be held without charge or trial. The judicial review of the order is scheduled to take place tomorrow, November 25th, at the Military Court of Administrative Detainees in Ofer Military Base, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, and we need you to take action right now. Tell the US Consul General in Jerusalem to send a representative to the hearing. His harassment must stop. He should either be tried in a court of law where he can defend himself or he should be released.

• Tell the New York Mets to say no to Hebron’s racist, violent settlers

  The New York Mets are allowing the Hebron Fund, a Brooklyn-based non-profit supporting violent and racist Israeli settlers living in the West Bank City of Hebron, to hold a fundraiser at Citi Field on November 21st. Tell the Mets to cancel this event.
  

  Please send the letter below, or better yet, add or edit it to make it your own!

• Tell the signers of the Toronto Declaration,"You Speak for Me"

  Sign the petition below and stand by over 1,000 cultural producers who have signed on to the Toronto Declaration which objects to the Toronto International Film Festival's celebratory spotlight on Tel Aviv. Such a celebratory honor is part of an explicit, openly-stated Israeli effort to divert public attention from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. It does not call for boycott and it does not delegitimize Israel.
  

• Defend academic freedom. Defend the right to talk about boycott, divestment, and sanctions.

  On Thursday, August 20 the LA Times published an op-ed in which Ben Gurion University Professor Neve Gordon wrote that the question that kept him up at night, both as a parent and as an Israeli citizen, was how to ensure that his two children as well as the children of his Palestinian neighbors do not grow up in an apartheid regime. He concluded that the only thing that the only workable solution would be "massive international pressure." (1) Following the publication of the article there has been such a vehement and aggressive attack against Gordon in Israel (2), that we believe "massive international pressure" will be needed to keep him from being fired from his job.

  We are protecting here more than one person and one job. Help us protect the ability to talk openly about the Israeli occupation and about nonviolent options to address it, such a boycott, divestment, and sanctions.
  

  When you sign this email, we will send copies to the Israeli Minister of Education, the leadership of Ben Gurion University, and to Neve Gordon himself.

  
  

• Ask Barack for "New Policies, New Faces" for Middle East peace

  Obama has proposed to make an early and sustained push to support peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and has pledged to talk to Iran without preconditions. A sustained push by the United States for Israeli-Palestinian peace would force on to the table fundamental issues that must be resolved, like Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Even Israeli Prime Minister Olmert said recently that Israel must withdraw from nearly all the West Bank as well as East Jerusalem to attain peace with the Palestinians. [1] And an early push for talks with Iran could help establish security in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we can't assume this is the direction U.S. policy will move. 

• Tell Barack Obama

  Tell him something.