Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
Action Alert
Action Alert - Completed
[POSTED: January 16, 2003]
AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY FOR AMERICAN JEWS TO ENCOURAGE
A VOTE FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN THE UPCOMING ISRAELI ELECTIONS
Dear Members and Supporters,
As you know, Israelis are going to the polls to vote on January 28th. At the present time, the overwhelming support for Ariel Sharon and his Likud party in early opinion polls has somewhat declined in the host of corruption scandals and as the result of challenges by the Labor Party and Shinui. In response to requests from our membership, we have identified two worthwhile voter education projects aimed at two key sectors of the Israeli electorate to which U.S. citizens may legally contribute-Russian immigrants and Israeli Palestinian Arabs.
What follows is a description of these two projects, along with directions on how you can send financial contributions if you are so inclined.
We encourage you to forward this message on to your networks of friends, relatives and colleagues. Please let us know that you have responded to our call to support the vote for peace and social justice in Israel by writing to advocacy@btvshalom.org.
L'Shalom,
Diane Balser, Chair of Advocacy and Public Policy
Steve Masters, Co-chair of Advocacy and Public Policy
TARGETED CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS ON THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS OF MAINTAINING THE OCCUPATION
The Russian immigrant community in Israel is well educated, underemployed and reads the Russian press religiously. Unfortunately, the Russian press tends to present a decidedly rightwing perspective of the news, leading many of these voters to support a "military solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an increase in funding for the settlements.
This project seeks to counter the Russian media's bias by presenting Russian Israeli voters with critical information about the tremendous diversion of limited resources for increased military spending and investment in the settlements and to increase Russian voters' awareness of their own self interest in supporting alternative solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The principal group spearheading this effort is the Israeli non-profit organization Yedid - The Association for Community Empowerment in Israel. Since its inception in 1997, Yedid has provided individual assistance, education for democracy, community programs and policy advocacy for over 40,000 Israeli citizens in communities throughout Israel. Through appearances in hundreds of articles in the Russian press, which exposed numerous financial swindles plaguing Russian Jews and provided critical education on available legal remedies, Yedid has earned an excellent reputation amongst the Russian immigrant community.
Yedid's non-partisan voter education initiative consists of:
-- Eight to twelve half-page advertisements in the major national Russian newspapers at a total cost of $8,000-$12,000.
-- Seminars, posters and bumper stickers opposing the current budget that diverts funding away from critical social programs in order to increase military spending and investment to protect the settlements at a cost of $10,000.
-- Distribution of policy analysis materials in Russian, Arabic and Hebrew at all Yedid centers at a cost of $3,000.
-- Discussion groups and ulpanim analyzing the different party platforms and how they relate to social issues at a cost of $1,000 per group.
Tax deductible contributions can be made through a secure online donation to the New Israel Fund or by mailing a check to:
| New Israel Fund, 1101 14th Street NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005-5639 |
TARGETED CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT THE ARAB CITIZENS' RIGHTS FOR POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
The Mossawa Center, along with 30 Jewish and Arab non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is leading a campaign to protect Arab citizens' rights to political representation and against the disqualification of Palestinian Arab candidates. This campaign led to the decision by the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice to permit all Israeli Palestinian Arab candidates and parties to run in the upcoming election.
In the 2001 elections, only approximately 15% of eligible Israeli Palestinian Arab voters participated in the elections, down from 75% in 1999 and 70% in 1996. Most Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel boycotted the 2001 vote, registering their anger over the tragic events of October 2000 and the killing of 13 Arab citizens, their severe disaffection with the political establishment, and their solidarity with Palestinians opposing the occupation.
This is cause for concern given recent polls that show merely 50% of Arab voters are certain that they will cast a vote, 30% who are sure they will not, and 20% who remain undecided. Moreover, there is an ongoing campaign to boycott the election.
As part of the efforts to promote the Arab citizens' right for political representation, Mossawa: The Advocacy Center For Arab Palestinian Citizens of Israel, is carrying out a non-partisan program to encourage Arab citizens to use their right to affect the political debate in Israel. These efforts target the undecided 20% of the Israeli Arab electorate. The campaign will consist of paid advertising in Arab language newspapers, on Arab language radio stations and on billboards, as well as placement of stories in the Arab language press and short public service announcements on Arab satellite television promoting the importance of participating in the elections.
Mossawa ("equality" in Arabic) was founded to effect change in Israeli government policies and practices which discriminate against Arab citizens. Mossawa's programming includes political mobilization through advocacy in an effort to change legal policies and bring about social and economic justice for the Arab citizens of Israel, protection of human rights, capacity building for Arab local councils and NGOs; and international advocacy. Mossawa collaborates closely with both Jewish and Arab civil rights groups.
Tax deductible contributions can be made through a secure online donation to the New Israel Fund or by mailing a check to:
| New Israel Fund 1101 14th Street NW, Sixth Floor Washington, DC 20005-5639. |