Friend -- Just wanted to make sure you saw Jeremy's email
outlining some of our plans for the new year. If you're able to support
that work, [ [link removed] ]please consider a contribution here.

[2]J Street

Dear Friend,

No way around it: 2020 was simply horrific.

As we head toward the new year, I wanted to reiterate my personal hope
that you and your family are staying safe and that those in the extended J
Street family who have experienced loss and pain know that our community
holds you in our hearts.

I know you’ll agree: January 20, 2021 cannot come soon enough. Beyond that
lies hope inspired by broad vaccine distribution, economic recovery and a
new day for our nation marked by new leadership and new direction.

Thank you for all you did this year to help J Street bring this new day --
from working to elect Joe Biden to fighting annexation and standing up to
racism and white nationalism.

[ [link removed] ]Even as a new day dawns in the US, it’s clear to me that our most
important battles are far from over -- and that’s why I'm asking you to
take a moment today to make an end-of-year contribution to support J
Street’s work.

The core values we hold most dear -- drawing on both our Jewish and our
democratic traditions -- remain under threat, both here in the US and in
Israel.

Legislative (de jure) annexation may be off the table for now, but
creeping (de facto) annexation rolls on. With the explicit approval of the
outgoing Trump administration, Israeli settlers extend their reach day in
and day out -- establishing new settlements to prevent Palestinian
statehood while seizing land and demolishing homes in contravention of
international law and our moral principles.

Here at home, an almost cult-like movement has replaced a rational
Republican Party -- a movement grounded in conspiracy theories, racism,
anti-immigrant sentiment and, yes, antisemitism.

In this critical moment, J Street is your political home -- where you can
organize, mobilize and fight for your values and ensure a future for the
US, Israel and the Jewish community grounded in peace, justice and
democracy.

J Street’s agenda for 2021 is ambitious. First and foremost, we’ll support
the Biden administration as it executes a much-needed and dramatic change
of course in the Middle East.

As early as January, the US will take steps to re-enter the Iran nuclear
agreement and J Street will support the new administration against those
who prefer escalating conflict and proliferation to negotiations and
diplomacy.

This past week, we helped secure the signatures of 150 members of Congress
on a letter to President-elect Biden supporting America’s return to
compliance with the agreement as a basis for further diplomacy.

Next, we will urge a return to strong US support for a two-state solution
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and meaningful opposition to the
ever-deepening occupation.

The US should restore relations with and funding to the Palestinian
Authority and clearly differentiate between our strong support for Israel
proper and its security and our opposition to illegal actions that take
place in the territory it occupies over the Green Line.

We’ll urge quick reversal, for instance, of the Trump administration’s
move to require settlement products sold in the US to be labeled “made in
Israel.” They’re not.

Here at home, J Street will continue to partner with movements and
organizations fighting for justice and equality and against white
nationalism, structural racism and anti-immigrant sentiment.

I believe strongly that the 2020s will be J Street’s decade -- the time
when we establish ours as the mainstream political voice representing the
majority of Americans -- Jewish and not -- who value a US-Israel
relationship rooted in the values on which both countries were founded.

We intend to grow dramatically in the coming years.

We will have chapters in more communities and on more college campuses.

We will ramp up our work with young professionals, synagogues and high
schools.

We will take more members of Congress and opinion leaders to see the
realities on the ground for Israelis and Palestinians to better inform
their decision making.

And I hope I can continue to count on you as a partner -- and contributor
-- now and in the years ahead.

I know there are many worthy causes to support, particularly this year
when so many are suffering and in need in our communities.

[ [link removed] ]But I ask you to consider making a contribution to our work at this
time so that we can continue growing a vibrant political movement that
fights for our values and against the forces that applauded as Donald
Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu led the US and Israel down dark paths.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately:

[ [link removed] ]Chip in $9 [ [link removed] ]Chip in $36
[ [link removed] ]Chip in $100 [ [link removed] ]Chip in $250
[ [link removed] ]Chip in $500 [ [link removed] ]Chip in another amount

May the new day ahead -- starting on January 20 -- bring a brighter future
to all those who’ve suffered through a difficult 2020.

My warmest wishes to you and your family for the holiday season and the
new year,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street


[ [link removed] ]Facebook [ [link removed] ]Twitter
© 2020 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace 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.



You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]