We Just Launched our 2020 Platform
Today is a big one for the movement we’re building together.
We just launched the IfNotNow 2020 Platform. Together we will spend the next year asking every American public official to join us fighting for a better future — not just for American Jews, but for all people.
Because if we’re going to win, we need a vision for the future.
The crisis in Israel/Palestine has never been more urgent, with the Trump Administration and the Netanyahu government making it worse by the day. As Gaza and Israel spiral out of yet another round of violence, we are reminded of the clear need to change decades of failed policies.
We must fight for this future.
In this future, Jews will join hand in hand with Palestinians to press for an end to a decades-long occupation. We will speak for ourselves rather than deferring to an outdated American Jewish establishment which defends the indefensible. We will love one another and our neighbors and build a society and world based on the values of freedom and dignity.
So what’s in the IfNotNow 2020 Platform? There are two parts.
1) Defund Occupation: The United States gives Israel $3.8 billion in military funding every year — and we don’t even know exactly what horrors of the occupation it goes to support. We suspect that the money is used to demolish homes, detain children, shoot unarmed protestors in Gaza and more. We are rising up with moral clarity to ensure that our money funds freedom and not occupation.
2) Fight Antisemitism and White Nationalism: Far too often, American public officials respond to the threat of antisemitism by invoking their unconditional support for Israel, implying that the safety of Jews and the political interests of the Israeli government are one and the same. We need them to condemn and fight antisemitism and white nationalism wherever it appears — for the safety of the American Jews, other marginalized people, and all those who call this country home.
Both of these should be common sense policy for any public leader, and yet we’ve seen far too many of our leaders fail to do either. It’s time for us to take responsibility for our own future and make our voices heard.
We don’t just have a platform — we have a plan. This weekend 75 of our top leaders are gathering in Chicago to get organized and make a strategy to ask public officials across the nation to sign on to the IfNotNow 2020 Platform.
When our leaders see the next generation of American Jews uniting around this vision, they will be provided a choice: lead with us or prove themselves irrelevant.
In this dark moment, I’m excited to be building towards this powerful vision.
Emily Mayer
IfNotNow
P.S. The world is already starting to take notice of this platform release! Check out the NBC News article about the announcement.
