Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to DC this week was designed to be low-key and, above all else, normal. But in some ways - thanks to you - this trip was anything but.
Netanyahu’s trip had a clear aim: mending ties with progressives. And with good reason. In just the past year, Netanyahu has tried to march the U.S. into war with Iran, race-baited in order to win re-election, and, at every opportunity, trampled on the civil and human rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, inside Israel, and in the diaspora.
So we worked flat-out all week to give Netanyahu the dishonor and un-welcome he deserved. And we have some real results to show for it:
On Monday morning as he met with President Obama, we launched our new call-in software, and generated over 1,000 calls in 24 hours from grassroots JVP activists, demanding that President Obama hold the Israeli government accountable to international and US law.
Later that day, he was honored as a humanitarian (I’m not kidding!) by the American Enterprise Institute -- one of the top neo-conservative think tanks in town. But a 39-member coalition including our DC-Metro chapter met him with a huge street protest.
But his most jarring appearance came Tuesday. After a well documented pressure campaign by AIPAC, the Center for American Progress, a leading liberal think-tank, invited Netanyahu to give an exclusive address. And I’m sure neither Netanyahu nor CAP expected the response we helped channel.
Our allies at the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation initiated a petition calling on CAP to cancel the event. We joined in and helped deliver over 26,000 signatures calling on CAP to cancel the event.
Simultaneously, we launched an open letter with the Arab American Institute highlighting our shock at CAP’s decision, which over 100 progressive leaders and organizations signed, including Naomi Klein, Noura Erekat, Avaaz, and the Center for Constitutional Rights. The letter, and the growing controversy we helped generate, were covered by the Washington Post, CNN, Foreign Policy magazine, and several others.
The talk went ahead, but we seized control of the story. We demonstrated the growing and increasingly vocal demand by progressive leaders that our peers take Israeli human rights abuses seriously - and showed that we’re going to hold allies accountable if they refuse to get with the times.
The take-home is this: in March, Netanyahu came to DC as an out-and-out arch-conservative, insulting the President in a speech before Congress, and trying to cajole the U.S. into war on Iran. And he lost, big time -- over 60 Members of Congress ignored him and skipped the speech, and the historic diplomatic agreement he loathed is now law.
This time around, he tried to disguise himself as a reasonable centrist. But again, he failed.
With your help, we’ve proved that no matter how he tries to package himself, Netanyahu’s true commitments -- racism, militarism, and a total disregard for any semblance of justice-- will always shine through.
This week, we proved that you can’t be progressive except for Palestine. Our work - and the coverage it inspired - will give pause to anyone who thinks there are no consequences to cozying up to the Israel Lobby. And it will confirm for those still nervous about taking a brave stand for justice in Palestine that our movement is strong enough to back them up.
But it’s not as if Netanyahu is going to give an inch. We know how the cycle goes: we challenge Netanyahu, Sheldon Adelson, and all their buddies - and they commit even more millions to try to regain the upper hand.
Help us be ready: chip in $18 to make sure we can sustain this historic shift.
I don’t think “historic” is an exaggeration. We’re standing on the cusp of a groundbreaking transformation in the American political landscape. More and more, the call for equality and justice for Palestinians and Israelis will be seen for what it is: a non-negotiable progressive cause.
Help us take the fight to the Israel lobby -- next week and every week. Chip in $18 right now.
We don’t know yet when Bibi will be back in DC, but I guarantee you this: next time he’s here, we’ll be here too.
Thank you for standing with us.
Ari Wohlfeiler
Development Director
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