stan van houcke: Jewish Voice for Peace 9

vrijdag 10 juli 2015

Jewish Voice for Peace 9

BDS: front and center in the political debateAction Alert

Presidential candidates are lining up to declare the fight against Palestinian rights a major priority.
Candidates are again raising money by proving how little they care about Palestinian human rights	Tell the candidates: universal human rights are our priority.

Dear Stan,

Monday, major newspapers published a letter from Hillary Clinton to Democratic party mega-donor Haim Saban. In it, she weighed in on the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement - by committing to fight it.

She wrote "to express my alarm over the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement....I know you agree that we need to make countering BDS a priority."

Similarly,Ted Cruz told the crowd at a recent Sheldon Adelson-funded event that "in 2017 we need a president who will stand up directly and confront the [BDS] movement."Click here to tell all Presidential candidates: We support equal rights for all peoples of Palestine and Israel. And we're not alone.

The BDS movement is becoming a very public conversation topic in US politics. We know this grandstanding against BDS is first and foremost about the hunt for billionaire mega-donors - whether they be extreme right-wing fanatics like Sheldon Adelson, or Haim Saban, whose ultra-conservative streak is more specifically focused on opposing Palestinian rights.Candidates need to know that selling out Palestinian rights doesn't curry any favor with us. Polls repeatedly show that growing numbers of all Americans - even and increasingly Jews—have had it with Israel’s endless settlement expansion, inequality, and denial of rights. They recognize that Israel is not interested in peace, and don’t want US policy to give Israel a free pass anymore.

Sign here to show how many of us want a new path for US policies toward Israel and Palestine.

If we raise our voices, there's actually reason to believe we can make a difference.

Just 4 months ago, working with many partner organizations, we helped convince 60 Members of Congress to boycott Netanyahu's speech to Congress. And days ago, a new survey showed only 48% of Democrats think Israel wants peace with its neighbors, while 47% think Israel is a racist country.

Sign here to show how many of us want an end to Israeli policies of occupation, official discrimination, and expulsion.If we get 10,000 signatures, we'll deliver your message to all the candidates.

This is a critical moment for broad education about what Israeli policies are doing, and how we can work with people around the globe to transform them. We need to seize it!