Help Us Elevate Our Voice

Friends,

It is hard to believe but we are already finished with the first quarter of 2017 and what a busy few months it has been, especially for coverage of the US Campaign in the media. Have you noticed all the headlines related to the US Campaign’s work? Our writings, commentaries and campaigns have been featured in scores of media outlets large and small across the US and across the world just in the last three months.

The first week of 2017 started with a widely-circulated opinion piece in The New Yorker about John Kerry’s “Separate and Unequal” speech on Palestine, highlighting the stark apartheid reality on the ground. By mid-February we had a piece in Time arguing for equal rights in Palestine in any one-state solution after President Donald Trump signaled openness to this outcome. We’ve also placed multiple op-eds in The Hill, a leading outlet with a Congressional audience, and the Huffington Post as well.

When we are not authoring pieces, we are also participating in interviews on a range of topics. In the last several months, mainstream media have included our commentary on the meetings between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the nomination of settlement-supporter David Friedman as ambassador to Israel and cultural boycott efforts. We’ve been quoted in CNN, the Guardian, AP, ABC News, the Washington Post, ESPN, Newsweek, NBC News, USA Today and many more.

Our campaigns have also made a splash in the headlines, most notably since the start of 2017. Our efforts to get NFL football players to skip a propaganda trip to Israel were widely covered after Super Bowl champion and NFL star Michael Bennett declared: “I am not going to Israel”. Ultimately only 5 of the 11 players invited went on the trip after Bennett skipped in protest responding to our open letter published in The Nation. This major embarrassment for the Israeli government propaganda effort led to coverage of our campaign in media outlets across the country in many of the local markets where these NFL stars play and in national sports media outlets, bringing information about the injustice in Palestine to millions of new people.

Then, just before the Oscars, there was coverage of our 2016 campaign calling on nominees to skip a trip to Israel offered to them in their awards gift bags. As the AFP reported: “A year ago, Israel offered Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and other Hollywood stars all-expenses paid luxury trips, but it seems they have chosen to miss their cues.” None of the Hollywood stars took up the offer.

Getting a strong advocacy for Palestinian rights into the mainstream discussion is a key part to achieving our goals. Here, you can see the logos of some of the 80+ media outlets we’ve been published in or which have
covered our work just since the beginning of the year. If you think that is impressive, please consider this: the US Campaign does not have a dedicated communications or media staff person. Just imagine how much more could be done if we did. That is why we want to add a Communications Director to our staff in the coming months. If you want to see our voice for Palestinian rights projected louder, and further into the mainstream with greater impact, please consider donating today to the US Campaign to help us build our communications team.

We want to take our work to the next level and take our voice to the next level. To do that, we need to expand our very talented team of dedicated staff with your support. As always, the staff and steering committee of the US Campaign are deeply grateful for your partnership in the work for Palestinian rights.

With gratitude,

Yousef Munayyer
Executive Director

 

PS: Millions of Americans have just filled their taxes and billions of your tax dollars are sent to Israel each year to prop up its apartheid system in Palestine. Please consider making a contribution to the US Campaign, which is tax-deductible under section 501(c)3, to help offset the impact of US tax dollars and support the effort for freedom, justice and equality in Palestine.