J Street and J Street U to host #FightForDemocracy: Standing Up for Our Values at Home and in Israel Rally

February 22, 2017

J Street U

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J Street and J Street U will host a rally to #FightForDemocracy on the night of Saturday, February 25, during J Street’s upcoming 2017 National Conference.

The rally will take place on February 25 at 9pm in Pershing Park in Washington, DC after the opening program of our National Conference. Along with three J Street U students, a prominent American rabbi will address the crowd. They will talk about the new challenges American Jews face under Trump, and offer their account of the dangerous rise in anti-democratic trends in the United States and Israel.

In the United States, the Trump administration issued an executive order barring refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. In Israel, the Knesset passed a regularization law that legalizes outposts built illegally under Israeli law in the West Bank. These measures, while taking place in different countries, are both driven, in part, by efforts on the far right to undermine democracy. As pro-Israel Americans and Jews, we must stand up for our core values of tolerance, social justice and equality both at home and in Israel.

Further, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a joint press conference last week, refused to affirm support for a two-state solution, effectively turning their backs on decades of bipartisan and international consensus. The two-state solution remains the only viable solution to the conflict, and the way to ensure Israel’s future as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people.

Jews are not the only or even primary targets of this administration, and we believe it is our moral duty to stand in solidarity with other targeted groups, including the Muslim community. Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are intolerable in all forms, and we have an obligation to resist this hate whenever it arises. We recognize and applaud the ways in which American Jewish communal organizations, including many of our Hillels, have stood against President Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees, and we know that the American Jewish community will continue to play a crucial role in standing up for democracy.

We, the future of the American Jewish community, will continue to fight for coexistence, democracy, and a two-state solution throughout the next four years and beyond. The anti-democratic policies of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot stand, and we will not remain silent.

 

About J Street U

The student organizing arm of J Street