The pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy group J Street and its student movement J Street U today announced significant progress in their campaign calling for the platforms of the major US political parties to include support for Palestinian rights and opposition to Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank, in addition to support for Israel’s security.
The group announced that over 230 Jewish clergy and other communal leaders, including three past presidents of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, have signed on to a letter urging political parties to make changes to their platforms. Many more are expected to add their support in the weeks ahead.
Across the country, local chapters of the College Democrats have voted to formally endorse J Street’s platform campaign — at campuses including George Washington University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins, Oregon State, Princeton, the University of Indiana, the University of Michigan and the University of Washington. In the crucial swing state of Florida, the statewide federation of the College Democrats has endorsed the campaign, noting that “We believe the Democratic Party should represent the voice of young people, which is why we are pushing the DNC to specifically include language condemning the occupation, annexation and settlement expansion in the 2020 party platform.”
“College students are absolutely committed to defeating Donald Trump in 2020 — and to making sure that the next president is prepared to take action to oppose annexation, confront the occupation and lead the way towards Israeli-Palestinian peace,” said J Street U national president Matan Arad-Neeman. “This campaign is about demonstrating that strong support for Israel can and should go hand-in-hand with an unapologetic commitment to Palestinian rights. It is imperative that party leaders reflect that consensus.”
Beyond the College Democrats, the campaign has also been formally endorsed by the Democratic parties of King County, Washington and Yolo County, California. J Street and J Street U organizers anticipate many more public announcements of support for the campaign in the lead-up to the Democratic National Convention in July.
Learn about our campaign to #ChangeThePlatform to explicitly oppose the occupation and sign our petition to party leadership.