[ ]J Street [ ]
Friends,

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s far-right government is not only threatening
democratic rights for Israelis, but also trampling the freedoms of
Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.

They made that callously clear this month.

On May 7, the government sent soldiers and bulldozers to demolish a
Palestinian elementary school in the West Bank. It followed advocacy from
Regavim, a pro-annexation settlement group co-founded by Minister Bezalel
Smotrich, who now controls civilian affairs in the West Bank.

With a degree of cruelty that defies belief, Regavim then boasted about
their “victory” on social media:

[ [link removed] ]Regavim posting before and after pictures of the demolition on social
media

[ [link removed] ]Stop School Demolitions: Sign the Petition

[ [link removed] ]Read and sign our petition to President Biden >>

Friends – I don’t know about you, but my vision for Israel’s
future as a proud, just, Jewish homeland does not include demolishing
children’s schools to make way for settlements and prevent the
establishment of a Palestinian state.

The school, in the village of Jubbet Adh Dhib, was providing a path to a
better future for dozens of local children aged six to ten. The European
Union helped fund construction six years ago, saving many families a
one-hour walk to the nearest alternative.

Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups remain worried for over 50
other schools at risk of demolition. So far this year, Netanyahu’s
government has authorized over 350 demolitions displacing almost 600
people – half of them children – all to keep land clear for settlement
expansion and potential annexation.

As Jewish Americans, we must call out these destructive policies. We must
stand up for our Jewish, democratic values, and for a better future for
both peoples. [ [link removed] ]Please add your name to our petition to President Biden
calling for action to stop demolitions of Palestinian schools.

From their anti-democratic judicial reforms to restricting religious
pluralism within Israel to this cruel quest to stop Palestinian families
building a future for themselves, these right-wing efforts to build an
illiberal, anti-democratic Israel run counter to everything my parents and
grandparents taught me about our Jewish values and vision for the Jewish
homeland.

Like so many in our community, I’m deeply concerned where this is taking
us.

I’m deeply concerned about the many, many families impacted by this
demolition and others. How can anyone hope to build a better future for
their children when thousands of homes, schools, clinics, farms and
businesses exist under the looming shadow of occupation bulldozers?

Frankly, I’m also concerned that the United States government isn’t doing
as much as it could to push back against Netanyahu’s anti-democratic
agenda, both within the Green Line and beyond it. We must speak strongly
and clearly, and we must show our support for the Israeli and Palestinian
groups working to defend peace, equality and hopes for a better future.

[ [link removed] ]Friends – Please sign our petition today calling on President
Biden to take action, and please consider a contribution toward our work.

Yours,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street


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© 2023 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

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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