This Week: Ben-Gvir Does Not Speak for Us 📢 | Yom HaShoah 2025 🕯️ | Trump’s Attacks on Higher Ed Don’t Stop at the Ivies 🎓 | J Street Champions Lead the Charge against Trump’s Authoritarian Deportations ✊ | Vote Hatikvah Before Polls Close! ✡️ | Next Tuesday: The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony 🕊️ | The People’s Peace Summit 👐 | This Week’s Must-Reads 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.
📢 Ben-Gvir Does Not Speak for Us: Ben-Gvir's visit to the US included: A speaking gig at Mar-a-Lago, boasting about taking away prisoner rights and a trip to the gun store. His extreme vision for Israel has a lot in common with the MAGA movement here, and it's a danger to us all.
- Add Your Name: We’re making clear that Ben-Gvir does not represent us. Not when he sabotages the ceasefire and hostage deal. Not when he slanders hostage families and peace advocates. Not when he supports anti-democratic crackdowns. Not when he spouts anti-Palestinian hate. Add your Name >>
- Students Push Back: J Street U student leader and policy intern Liam Hamama condemns Ben-Gvir’s visit to Yale University, “Those who glorify violent terrorists should never be treated as if their views fall within the bounds of acceptable discourse. So, just as we would never offer a platform or a dinner invitation to Vladimir Putin, a Hamas supporter or a white supremacist who venerates Dylann Roof, we should not do so for Itamar Ben-Gvir.” Read the full piece in the Yale Daily News >>
- Ben-Gvir’s Far-Right Bedfellows Say the Quiet Part Out Loud: Ben-Gvir’s close ally Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that returning the hostages was “not the most important goal.” “The only truth is that for your messianic and psychopathic delusions, you are willing to sacrifice my Matan and an entire country,” responded Einav Zangauker, mother of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker.
🕯️ Yom HaShoah 2025: Wednesday night marked the start of Yom HaShoah. A time for remembering the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Never Again isn't just a slogan. It's a call to action. Let us honor the memories of those we lost by standing up for the safety of Jews and targeted minorities around the world. Together, we must stand up to authoritarianism and tyranny to create a safe and free future for all.
🎓 Trump’s Attacks on Higher Ed Don’t Stop at the Ivies: While universities like Harvard and Columbia dominate the headlines, Trump’s attacks on higher-ed are reshaping campuses across the country, endangering the very Jewish students Trump claims to be protecting.
- A Student’s Perspective from Iowa: J Street U leader Alliyah Kazan, shares her experience at the University of Iowa, “Since the new administration returned to the White House, there has been a widespread sense of fear on campus among both staff and students. I have personally seen professors unwilling to post lecture slides for students to review outside of class, even on subjects like the Holocaust, out of fear of retaliation from the university.” Read Alliyah’s full piece in the Des Moines Register >>
- University Presidents Fight Back: Over 200 University Presidents have signed a letter condemning the Trump Administration's threats to withhold federal funding to get them to comply with its demands. Read here >>
✊ J Street Champions Lead the Charge against Trump’s Authoritarian Deportations: As the Trump Administration deports immigrants to Salvadoran torture prisons with no due process and ICE agents disappear student protesters for their political views, J Street allies are fighting back.
- Senator Chris Van Hollen, one of J Street’s staunchest allies, flew to El Salvador to demand the release of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia. This week, more Democrats are visiting Abrego Garcia to ramp up the pressure further.
- Vermont Senator Peter Welch, another strong ally of J Street, met with detained Columbia Student Mohsen Mahdawi on Monday. Mohsen shared his deep hope for a “peaceful resolution between Palestinians and Israelis.”
- We’re grateful to these Senators for treating these cruel deportations for what they are, authoritarian power grabs that threaten the foundations of our democracy.
✡️ Vote Hatikvah Before Polls Close! Voting for the World Zionist Congress closes on May 4. $5 billion is at stake – will it go to promoting democracy, peace and a ceasefire and hostage deal, or to building settlements and empowering extremists? We’re proud to support the Hatikvah Slate to defend democracy, stop annexation and bring the hostages home. Vote here >>
🕊️ Next Tuesday: The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony. J Street is proud to once again sponsor the annual Joint Memorial Day Ceremony, the largest Israeli-Palestinian jointly organized peace event in history. The ceremony provides a unique opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to grieve together and stand strong in demanding an end to the occupation and ongoing violence. Learn more and register here >>
👐 The People’s Peace Summit: On May 8-9, 60 Israeli civil society and peace organizations – Jewish and Palestinian – will host The People’s Peace Summit in Jerusalem to demand a different future and to transform the Israeli peace camp into a cohesive and powerful force for change. Join or host a global solidarity action in your area >>
📖 This Week’s Must-Reads:
- Many Jews say Trump is Politicizing the Fight Against Antisemitism: “There is a very troubling pattern of codifying into state and local law — as well as attempts at the federal level — a definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israeli government actions and policies that would have the effect not simply of chilling speech, but criminalizing it,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. Read the full Washington Post article >>
- Democrats, Republicans and Double Standards on Israel and Antisemitism: “How is it that Democrats are constantly being accused of being weak in their support for Israel and not tough enough on antisemitism, when the objective reality is that they have been so much better than Donald Trump on these issues? This was a deeply frustrating phenomenon that I experienced during the Presidential campaign,” J Street Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg writes. Read here >>
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