[ ]J Street [ ]
Dear Friend,

Before he died, my grandfather Shimon Peres said: “We live in a world of
differences, not in a world of likenesses. Democracy is not just the right
to be equal but also the equal right to be different, and those who don’t
understand that don’t understand the future of our world.”

In his final weeks, my grandfather was profoundly worried about the future
of Israel. He was watching the country he had built and served lose its
democratic foundation -- the right to be equal and the equal right to be
different.

He would have been truly horrified to see what’s happened since: The
appalling Nation State law. Netanyahu’s race to embrace West Bank
annexation. The shocking moves made by President Trump to encourage the
most destructive policies of Israel’s far right. 

In Israel and the United States, we face a shared struggle against a
far-right nationalist agenda.

And more than ever, we need our progressive partners in the US to push
back against these dangerous policies and to work toward our shared
vision: Two states, not annexation; diplomacy, not recklessness and
destruction. 

[ [link removed] ]Friend, that’s why I’m asking you to contribute to J Street
today. I need you -- as a pro-Israel, pro-peace partner in the United
States -- to help us lay the groundwork to restore my grandfather’s vision
of a democratic, peaceful Israel >>

This coming March, we Israelis will head to the ballot box for an
unprecedented third election in under a year -- due in part to Netanyahu's
refusal to step down, even as he faces charges in three separate
corruption cases.

We will vote at a moment in which the peace process has been removed from
Israel’s public agenda with alarming effectiveness. A moment in which our
core Jewish values of justice and compassion seem increasingly immaterial
to our leaders.

The importance of this election cannot be overstated. It is about Israel's
survival, about who we are, about our very existence as a democratic
homeland for the Jewish people.

We’re in this together. 

Because, in the US too, Americans are faced with an election that will
decide not only the character and future of their country, but the future
of millions around the world who depend on global American leadership.

[ [link removed] ]With so much at stake, we need to empower those who give voice to our
values and stand up to fight for them. Please consider a donation of
$9,
$18 or
whatever you can to support J Street today >>

Our countries share magnificent and unlikely histories -- nations of
immigrants who fought bravely for their independence. What our nations are
currently facing does not in any way lessen the magnificence of our
stories -- they are still being written. And we --- you and I -- can be
the authors.

We have an opportunity to deliver a vital, hopeful message to the world:
The fight for democracy can be won. Corrupt leaders can be beaten.

My grandfather was once asked, “What is the stuff you are made of?”

“Me?” he replied. “I’m made of the future.”

So am I, and so are you, the supporters of J Street. That’s how I know we
can shape the future together. And the future starts now.

[3]With my grandfather.

– Mika Almog
Author, journalist and political activist


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© 2019 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.



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