[ ]J Street U
[ ]
Friend --

This is a tremendously important moment for our country, as we take part
in and witness a national reckoning over the ongoing impacts of systemic
racism. While we work for justice and change here at home, we know that we
also need to continue our work for a just and peaceful future for
Palestinians and Israelis -- and I wanted to give you an important update
on some of that work.

At last year’s National Conference, J Street U and J Street launched our
campaign to #ChangeThePlatform. We called on the Democratic Party to
ensure that its 2020 platform would include, for the first time, specific
support for Palestinian rights alongside continued support for Israel’s
security, and explicit opposition to occupation, settlement expansion and
annexation.

As the national student president of J Street U during the course of this
campaign, I’ve seen how much these points resonate with progressive young
people across the country -- the people who will do everything they can to
help defeat Donald Trump this fall, and who represent the future
leadership of the Democratic Party.

I’ve seen how strong the desire is to make sure that the next party
platform -- and the next administration -- fully commit to pro-Israel,
pro-peace and pro-Palestinian policies that will respect the legitimate
rights and aspirations of both peoples, firmly oppose the destructive
policies of the Israeli far right and help lead the way toward lasting
peace.

Just weeks ahead of a Democratic convention that -- due to the pandemic --
will likely look very different than in years past, I’m thrilled to share
with you some key milestones and accomplishments from this campaign:

* J Street U organizers have worked with College Democrats and Young
Democrats to pass formal resolutions in [ [link removed] ]18 different College
Democrat chapters and federations across the country, calling on the
DNC to #ChangeThePlatform.
* [ [link removed] ]More than 70 College Democrats and Young Democrats leaders have
publicly signed on to our #ChangeThePlatform petition.
* [ [link removed] ]As spotlighted in HuffPost, 32 high-profile foreign policy
professionals, including a former National Security Advisor and two
former US ambassadors to Israel, released a letter urging the party to
make these changes -- organized in part by J Street’s staff.
* Thanks to organizing from J Street’s communal team and other
progressive pro-Israel allies, more than 250 Jewish clergy and
communal leaders [ [link removed] ]released their own letter of support.
* Grassroots student organizing also helped secure formal endorsement
from major Democratic parties at the county level in California and
Washington state.

Additionally, thousands of Americans have signed our petition to the
Democratic platform committee calling for these important changes. [ [link removed] ]If
you haven’t signed on yet, I hope you’ll add your name and endorse our
campaign today >>

This has been a major coordinated effort across the organization, bringing
together all the different facets of our work. Our student leaders and
organizers have forged strong ties with allies on campus, overcome the
major challenges of organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic and built a
broad base of support, which is delivering the momentum and power we need
as we head toward the convention.

While we’re very hopeful, we don’t yet know what the final shape of the
platform will look like -- and whether we’ll ultimately see the change
that we so deeply need.

But we do know that, no matter what, we’ve helped to fundamentally change
the debate on these issues in US politics and within the Democratic Party.
And we know that the strong political alliances and relationships we’ve
built throughout this campaign will endure for years to come.

We believe they will be especially invaluable in the weeks ahead, as we
approach a fateful moment for Israelis, Palestinians and the US-Israel
relationship, and as we continue to mobilize major, vocal US opposition to
the Netanyahu government’s annexation plans.

In solidarity,

Matan Arad-Neeman
J Street U National Student Board President


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© 2020 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreetu.org | [email protected]

J Street U is the student organizing arm of J Street, the political home for
pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans. We are a nationwide movement of campus chapters
advocating and educating on colleges and universities, in our communities and on
Capitol Hill for vigorous and sustained American leadership in facilitating a
negotiated, two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are
deeply committed to ensuring Israel’s future as the democratic homeland of the
Jewish people, which can only be secured through a two-state resolution.



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