Dear Stan,
As Netanyahu (or Gantz) cements a far-right Israeli agenda of continued human rights abuses and a call for the annexation of the West Bank, we in the U.S. are at a crucial moment when members of Congress need to hear from us with a single, powerful message:
If you won't stand up for Palestinian human rights, then get out of the way of those who will.
New Anti-BDS resolutions – H.Res. 246/S.Res.120 – just got introduced in the House and Senate. At a time when the U.N. has condemned Israel’s killing of protesters in Gaza, and with illegal settlement building at record highs, we need to stand firm for our right to boycott for human rights.
Call your members of Congress NOW!While some elected officials have defended our right to boycott, others are seeking to condemn the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement in order to try to limit our ability to effectively organize.
Boycotts have been used in movements for justice all over the world – from the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, to the farmworker-led boycott of grapes, to the Montgomery bus boycott. But incredibly, cosponsors of these resolutions are telling us that boycott is not an acceptable tactic when it comes to the human rights of Palestinians.
Why are some members of Congress feeding into the ongoing attacks on our free speech rights to use boycotts for Palestinian rights?
Because we are starting to win, and the opposition is scared. In the last year, even while fighting state laws for the right to boycott, boycotts are taking hold.
In November 2018 a major U.S. corporation, Airbnb, made the huge decision to delist properties in illegal settlements in the West Bank. In a press release they stated:
“When we applied our decision-making framework, we concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.”
JVP, along with a coalition of human rights advocates including the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, campaigned for two years to help force that decision.
If members of Congress used democratic values of equality and dignity as a lens to view Israel/Palestine, they would do more.
Till then, we need you to send this message to your members of Congress:
If you won't do anything for human rights, then at least get out of the way.
Let your members of Congress know that we aren’t going anywhere, and we want change in our lifetimes.
We know that no matter what the new government looks like in Israel – whether it’s Netanyahu or anyone else – it’s up to us to keep fighting with the tools we need. And BDS is one of them.
Join me!
Congressional Organizer
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national membership organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for the justice, equality, and dignity of all the people of Israel/Palestine. Become a JVP Member today.
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