[ ]J Street [ ]
Dear Friends,

Passover has always been my family’s favorite holiday, a celebration of
freedom and liberation. We examine the lessons the Jewish people learned
from their own oppression and the values to which we’ve committed,
including working for the liberation of all people.

This year, Passover coincided not just with Ramadan and Easter, but also
with preparations for Israel to mark 75 years of independence (and
Palestinians to mark 75 years since the “naqba”).

Horribly, it has also coincided with a surge in violence.

Over the past week, we’ve seen attacks by Palestinian terrorists that took
the lives of an Israeli mother and her two daughters in the West Bank, and
of an Italian tourist in Tel Aviv. We’ve seen barrages of rockets fired by
Hamas and other militants from Lebanon and Gaza. And -- under the
authority of one of Israel’s most extreme far-right ministers, Itamar
Ben-Gvir -- we’ve seen incendiary police crackdowns on Palestinians at the
Al-Aqsa Mosque which helped trigger this latest awful escalation.

A week of celebration and observance for Jews, Muslims and Christians has
also been a week of mourning and fear. It’s a familiar and tragic cycle.
We know that Israelis and Palestinians deserve better.

This is an important moment to reflect on the nature of the modern state
of Israel and its democracy. A profound struggle rages on the streets and
in the Knesset between those who believe universal rights and freedoms are
central to a democratic future and those who seek to shatter the
independence of the judiciary, restrict religious pluralism and undermine
LGBT+ and gender equality.

This is also a moment to reflect that, after 75 years, not only does the
country not have a constitution to structure its systems, but it also
doesn’t have a recognized border.

Over the Green Line in territory Israel controls, there are Israelis
pursuing permanent occupation, unlimited settlement and the
disenfranchisement of Palestinians -- all with no trace of the commitment
to freedom and equality for all that are central to my family seder and to
the Israeli Declaration of Independence, and no plan for ever resolving
the terrible conflict that continues to take so many lives.

Israel’s pro-democracy protest movement is focused primarily on the first
challenge -- to the country’s democratic system within the Green Line --
and, in my opinion, focused nowhere near enough on the challenges posed by
a never-ending conflict and occupation that provides a separate legal
system and unequal rights to millions of Palestinians living over the
Green Line.

While I wish that the pro-democracy movement would focus more on the
inequitable treatment of Palestinians, I remain profoundly optimistic
about this moment.

Here’s why:

* We’re seeing an unprecedented level of concern, engagement and
advocacy from millions of Israelis and pro-Israel Americans who are
committed to protecting the country’s founding values of democracy,
equality and justice.
* We’re seeing sustained, focused unity emerging between the left and
center in Israel and a shifting political landscape on which voters
may be awakening to the cynical, manipulative and divisive game being
played by Netanyahu and the far-right.
* As more and more American pro-Israel leaders articulate strong, clear
criticism of harmful Israeli government actions, there is growing
recognition that supporting Israel’s security, and its future as a
democratic homeland for the Jewish people does NOT mean supporting its
government no matter what.

This is a moment for hope and determination, and it’s an opportunity to
build and strengthen our pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy movement.

The surge in Israeli activism has been accompanied by a surge in
engagement with J Street in the US, and with the fight for our core values
of freedom, equality and security for all. More people than ever before
are joining us in the struggle for a truly just, truly peaceful, truly
democratic vision for Israel.

With your support, we’ll continue to push for American leaders to publicly
stand with Israel’s protest movement and take on the immediate threat to
Israel’s democratic institutions.

We’ll make clear that right-wing policies -- including demolitions,
settlement expansion and de facto annexation -- are exacerbating conflict
and injustice. We’ll make clear that a vibrant, safe, democratic Israel
cannot coexist with an undemocratic occupation.

We’ll work to mobilize and expand our movement in communities, on campuses
and in Washington. We’ll stand up for the values we speak about at our
seders -- the values central to our identity and to achieving a more just
and peaceful future for our children and grandchildren.

Together, we’ll rise to this moment. With so much at stake, we can’t
afford to fall short.

Thank you, sincerely, for your ongoing support,

Yours,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street

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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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