AMAZING RIGHT?

Dear, “This is it, this is the campaign for me. How can I help? That’s what a good friend of ours said when I told him Jewish Voice for Peace’s plan to go after the money with our TIAA-CREF divestment campaign. Actually, “help” is an understatement. This donor is matching every dollar–up to $25,000–donated by people like you until July 14. Amazing right? Truth is, we are getting used to amazing. To those of you who have supported us through donations, activism, and the courage to simply speak the truth, we say “thank you.” We know you don’t support Jewish Voice for Peace because you want us to be safe or to sugar-coat. You support us because you want us to tell the truth. You support us because you are fierce and uncompromising about your belief in equality and human rights for all people, and you expect the same of us. You support us because you want us to break new ground and make real change.       And we have. ·      Jewish Voice for Peace was the first group to bring the issue of Israel’s occupation into a U.S corporation boardroom. ·      JVP was the only national US Jewish group that supported the Goldstone Report, mobilized in the streets to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza, and called for an end to the siege, the whole siege of Gaza, the moment it began. ·      JVP’s TIAA-CREF campaign has already made history by gathering the broadest range of US campus-based divestment endorsers ever – we’ve barely begun, and we already have the support not just of rabbis but of academics from literally dozens of colleges including the University of Central Florida, Harvard, Princeton, University of Louisville, UCLA, MIT, Brandeis, University of Chicago, University of North Texas, University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania.  JVP’s fearless politics mean we don’t get government or large foundation funding. We exist almost entirely thanks to individual gifts from thousands like you. This makes us accountable, and it makes us honest. Please double your contribution by July 14 with a generous gift now.   One way you can help even more is by making a monthly pledge. Even an amount as small as $12 a month makes an enormous difference. For the thousands of people who are a part of JVP, saying what we say, doing what we do, takes guts. And for those of us on the organizational side of this work, training activists, hiring staff, and creating campaign materials also takes money. In the wake of the flotilla attack, when Israeli and Palestinian human rights defenders are being harrassed and jailed like never before, when the world’s attention is finally on the immoral blockade of Gaza, I hope we can count on you for both.  In gratitude,   Rebecca Vilkomerson Executive Director Jewish Voice for Peace       P.S. Should you choose a monthly pledge, the annual total will go towards the match. If you make a gift by July 14, the value will be doubled