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Dear Friend, Last month, at J Street's 2021 National Conference, we saw the largest ever virtual gathering of pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans. It was our first all-virtual conference and -- based on attendee feedback and media coverage -- I'm happy to report it was a resounding success. In this week's Street Talk, we'd like to share with you some of the most prominent speeches and panel discussions from the conference. From Senator Elizabeth Warren's powerful vision of progressive US policy in the Middle East and Beto O'Rourke's remarkable words of praise for J Street to an important address from President Biden's UN Ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, we hope you will enjoy and share these links to some of the standout moments. With so many star political leaders, experts and activists sharing our conference stage and embracing our movement, we feel energized for this critical moment, when we have a chance to help shape American leadership and to pursue a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians. The recent incendiary efforts by Israeli settlers and officials to evict East Jerusalem Palestinians from their homes, and subsequent confrontations, violence and police crackdowns in the city and beyond have reminded us that the situation on the ground is unjust, unsustainable and dangerous. As you'll read below, we're advocating for bold action and policies that won't simply seek to maintain a deteriorating status quo, but will push forward to pursue peace, counter the occupation and build a new era of diplomacy-first foreign policy. Thank you, Logan Bayroff, Vice President of Communications |
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Around J Street |
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DEVELOPING NEWS: Threatened Evictions Spark Alarming Escalation in Jerusalem |
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| The efforts of Israeli settler leaders and far-right politicians to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem has sparked mass protest, police crackdowns and ongoing violence in the city and beyond. Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound have alarmingly faced repressive police tactics, leaving dozens wounded and further inflaming tensions at one of the most sensitive holy sites in the world. While monitoring this dangerous escalation, J Street has warned against the unjust evictions -- and urged the Biden administration to take stronger action to push back against them, and make clear to the Israeli government that it cannot allow the settlers’ extremist efforts and incitement to continue. In our statement, we observed that it’s “critical that the Biden administration urgently warn the Israeli government that these provocative and unjust evictions are illegal under international law and have dangerous ramifications for Jerusalem and the wider region. The European Union and a number of members of Congress have already spoken out publicly on this issue -- the US administration should do the same.” The situation underscores the critical need for US diplomatic involvement to help broker meaningful progress and push back on harmful acts -- instead of allowing the status quo to deteriorate further. You can read our statement here. Look out for more responses from J Street as the situation in Jerusalem develops. |
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J Street Hosts American Political Leaders in Landmark National Conference |
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| J Street's first all-virtual conference was attended by well over 4,000 people and featured appearances from a wide array of top lawmakers and political leaders. The two most powerful legislators in Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, gave remarks, while Biden administration officials Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Senior White House Advisor Cedric Richmond updated us on approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and foreign policy. |
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| Prominent Democrats from Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, to rising stars like Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, and Senator Jon Ossoff – inspired us with galvanizing calls to action. Former congressman Beto O'Rourke told us that "There has been no organization that has had a bigger impact on me in my time in Congress than J Street [...] I really feel as if you all have continued to perfect some of the best practices in strengthening our democracy. And making sure that we have honest and real conversations about important public policy." |
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| All in all, we saw the strong support and appreciation that our movement has at the highest levels of government policy -- and heard some of their thinking about the steps we can take as a country and as a movement to promote our democratic values and progressive goals both at home and in the Middle East. Check out our conference highlights page for an extended look at most of our conference speakers and panels! | ||
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View Highlights → |
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The View ‘On the Ground’: Palestinian President, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Progressive Leaders and Top Activists Join J Street Conference |
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Top Israeli and Palestinian leaders, experts and analysts made sure our conference attendees heard many perspectives coming directly from the region. Leading Knesset progressives like Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz, Labor leader Merav Michaeli, and Joint List Leader Ayman Odeh spoke of their efforts to end the Netanyahu era, defend democracy, and confront the forces of the far-right. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made clear his ongoing commitment to the two-state solution and his desire to rebuild closer relations with the United States during the Biden era. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni described the continued urgency and necessity for Israel to pursue genuine negotiations towards a Palestinian state. | ||
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View Highlights → |
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Our Work At Home: Taking on White Nationalism, Defending Voting Rights, Pursuing Racial Justice |
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The conference programming delved into not just what J Street and our allies are doing in the struggle for peace in Israel/Palestine and the Middle East, but also how we're upholding our values of peace and democracy here at home. Activists Amy Spitalnick and Salam Al-Marayati spoke with journalist Peter Beinart about how the Jewish and Muslim communities are showing solidarity with other besieged and vulnerable minority communities in the fight against white nationalism. Senator Raphael Warnock updated us on the defense of voting rights in the face of ongoing attacks from Republican legislators in many states. And actress and activist Debra Messing gave rousing remarks about how every single American has the opportunity to press for change and social justice both at home and abroad. | ||
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View Highlights → | ||
Tell the US Government: Fund Israel's Defense, Not Endless Occupation |
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Coming out of the conference, J Street is more committed than ever to supporting Israel's security needs while also ensuring our government takes meaningful action to oppose de facto annexation and entrenched occupation -- Israeli government policies that are imperiling Israel's own future. As part of that work, we're calling on Congress and the Biden administration to ensure that every dollar of America's critical military aid to Israel is used to defend our ally against the very real security threats it faces -- and that none of it can be spent on actions that facilitate settlement expansion or trample on Palestinian rights. We need your help to show our elected leaders that common-sense transparency and guidelines on our critical aid to Israel have popular support. Click here to sign and share our petition: Fund Israel's Defense, Not Endless Occupation. The Israeli right should not be able to use American taxpayer dollars to fund the detention of Palestinian children, the demolition of their homes, or the destruction of their communities. We need common-sense transparency measures and guardrails that will ensure American aid to Israel is actually used to protect Israelis, rather than to violate Palestinian rights. Read J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami's op-ed responding to some common misconceptions about this critical policy -- and explaining why this is such an important priority for the pro-peace, pro-Israel movement. | ||
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Sign & Share the Petition → | ||
As COVID Spreads and Vaccination Lags In Palestinian Territories, Israel Must Work with Palestinian Officials to Help |
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J Street has watched with excitement and pride as Israel has led one of the most equitable and effective vaccination programs in the world. At the same time, we're alarmed at how efforts to vaccinate millions of Palestinians living in occupied territory have been extremely slow and under-resourced — while the number of COVID infections continues to increase. Meanwhile, Israeli officials are reportedly in possession of a substantial vaccine surplus. While the Palestinian Authority and local officials should of course be doing whatever they can to drive the vaccine procurement and distribution process forward, it's also clear that they need and should receive much more support from the Israeli government, as well as the US government and the international community. We are calling on Israel as well as the US to do everything in their power to help urgently vaccinate the Palestinian population. |
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Full Statement → |
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Mourning the Tragedy on Mount Meron |
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J Street was stunned and deeply saddened by the tragedy that occurred at Mount Meron late last month, where dozens were reportedly killed and injured in an apparent stampede during a mass Lag B'Omer celebration. We stand with Israelis in mourning this horrific incident and hoping for the swift recovery of the wounded. |
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Our Statement → |
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Meet the J Streeters: Six Questions with J Street's Israel Director Nadav Tamir |
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| This month, we sat down with the Executive Director of J Street Israel, Nadav Tamir to learn more about his background as a senior Israeli diplomat and policymaker, and what drew him to J Street's work. Tamir first heard about J Street when he was Israeli Consul General in New England. "I cabled back to Israel that we should be enthusiastic about the potential for the organization to give a voice to pro-Israel, pro-peace American Jews," he said. On why J Street's mission is personal to him, Nadav explained, "Israel is my home, it's where my family lives and it's a country I have worked for throughout my entire career -- from serving in the IDF to becoming a diplomat to working for President Peres. I care deeply about the future of our society, our democracy and our security, and J Street's role in transforming the politics of Israel in the United States is critical." Read and share the full interview with Nadav here >> |
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© 2021 J Street | 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. This email has been sent to [email protected]. Don't want to get our Street Talk newsletter? Just click here. Just want less email in general? Choose to receive only occasional updates or unsubscribe here. Email not displaying correctly? View here. |
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