Tell Progressive Lawmakers to Skip Herzog's Speech
Adalah Justice Project just returned from Netroots Nation in Chicago, and the ground is still shaking. Young Palestinians orchestrated a momentous disruption that led to hundreds of attendees walking out of a keynote panel featuring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), and Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04).
The disruption was planned in response to Adalah Justice Project’s panel at the conference within a caucus of conference attendees of Black, African, Arab, Asian, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian heritage. It was a beautiful display of solidarity to lift up a long-running local campaign led by the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).
Responding to protesters who chanted, “Israel is a racist state,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal declared to the crowd, “We have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state.”
While she has since walked back her comments, in that moment Rep. Pramila Jayapal stated the clear consensus of the progressive base: Israel is committing the crime of apartheid, and Palestinian freedom can’t wait another day.
She didn’t say this because she planned to. She said it because we put the progressive consensus on display and applied pressure.
Now we need your help to do that again.
Demand that elected officials skip the speech of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is addressing a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
We can’t let Herzog succeed in his damage control mission to smooth over the racist, settler colonial violence that has been laid bare over the last few months for all to see.
Help us put public pressure on progressive lawmakers to follow the clear message from their base: No Red Carpet for Israeli Apartheid!
Take action and click to tweet these lawmakers that are feeling the heat.
Tweet at Rep. Pramila Jayapal
Tweet at Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Tweet at Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia
Tweet at Rep. Maxwell Frost
Tweet at Rep. Greg Casar
It's time for progressive elected officials to align with our values and declare their commitment to the Palestinian freedom struggle.
We must continue to stand together and push our lawmakers to do better. We’ll continue to disrupt, protest, and speak out until Palestinian human rights are universally recognized.
We only win together.
In solidarity,
Sandra Tamari
