Our movement is fighting on the floor of Congress.
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With two months left in the Biden administration, we have a closing window of opportunity to push for an arms embargo as the Israeli military accelerates its genocide of Palestinians.
The Israeli government’s reign of horror continues. Just this past weekend, the Israeli military killed at least 50 people, one-third of whom were children, in attacks on residential buildings in Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza. Another 24 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombing of the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps in central Gaza. Rescuers in Beit Lahia reported that they could hear the screams of those still alive under the rubble, but that they likely lacked sufficient equipment to reach survivors in time. In Lebanon, even as ceasefire talks emerge, Israeli bombs continue to rain down on Beirut.
The grim reality is that the Israeli government has no plans to slow its genocidal bombardment of Gaza — it will not stop these atrocities unless it is made to. We know that the quickest way to force an end to this genocide is an end to U.S. weapons sales to Israel. With the Biden administration in its final months, we have a window of opportunity to push our demand for an arms embargo before Trump takes office.
Right now, that fight is on the floor of the Senate. Today, for the first time in history, the U.S. Senate will vote on whether to block arms sales to Israel. We’ve been all out in support of this historic legislation, deepening the cracks in the Democratic party consensus on continuing to arm a genocide.
This legislation is gaining serious momentum, with more Senators announcing their support each day, and progressive leadership in the House of Representatives doing the same. Because of this, the Biden administration is actively lobbying against the bill, alongside right-wing groups like AIPAC. We have hours left before this historic vote — and every single one of our voices counts.
Act now to block $20 billion to Israel.
The Senate will vote TODAY on historic legislation blocking a $20 billion weapons sale to Israel.
This is the final push: Call and email your Senators now to vote YES.
Facing down an incoming Trump administration, we’re preparing for a wave of repressive and unconstitutional legislation aimed at shutting down our movements.
Meanwhile, H.R. 9495 is back. If adopted, this bill would give the incoming Trump administration the power to unilaterally shut down any nonprofit organization it doesn’t like, with no due process. Though it’s designed to target the Palestine solidarity movement, handing Trump this unchecked power is an existential threat to all progressive movements for justice.
After tens of thousands of us took action last week, this unconstitutional legislation failed to gain the two-thirds majority that it needed to pass in the House. This victory was a testament to the power we wield as a unified front, and to the fact that there are critical opportunities right now, during Biden’s remaining months in office, to set the terrain for the battles ahead.
But House Republicans turned around and brought this failed bill back to the House floor, and it’ll come to a vote again this week. We’re fighting it again in the House and we will continue to fight to block it if it moves to the Senate. This legislation is a clear demonstration of how our movement is on the front line of the coming wave of right-wing repression — and how these measures are paving the way for the MAGA right to shred the First Amendment and suppress all kinds of dissent.
The battle over this legislation could be seen as a kind of test run for the authoritarian measures that Trump will implement the minute he gets into office, targeting the most vulnerable and criminalized among us, and eroding everyone’s basic rights in the process. As ever, our struggles are intertwined, and there is no such thing as freedom for some. It is only by recognizing this, and acting in solidarity to move towards a collective future, that any of us can be safe and free.
Oppose dangerous and unconstitutional H.R. 9495.
The House is voting again this week on this dangerous legislation that would grant the incoming Trump administration the power to unilaterally shut down nonprofit organizations it doesn’t like.
Email your representative now and demand they oppose H.R. 9495.
How we’re getting ready for the fight ahead
Join JVP Action’s Political Director Beth Miller and other organizers, political analysts, and legal experts from the Palestine solidarity movement for a briefing tomorrow examining the trajectory of the movement for Palestinian rights, including efforts to stop the genocide in Gaza and escalating violence in the region, under the incoming Trump administration.
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