FAQ

Jewish Voice for Peace was started in 1996 in the San Francisco Bay Area by three UC Berkeley undergrads as an all-volunteer Jewish peace group. In 2002, members decided to build a larger grassroots base that could one day change U.S. policies towards the region. Funds were raised then, as now, through a grassroots campaign focused mostly on small, individual donors.

JVP is a proudly Jewish organization committed to building and growing thriving Jewish communities and diverse Jewish cultures. The vast majority of our members and staff are Jewish and, like all Jewish families, we are blessed to have non-Jewish members and staff as well. We welcome Jewish people from all denominations, levels of practice, and affiliation who are drawn to JVP’s values, mission, and work.

All of our work represents a commitment to creating a future in which all Jewish people can live in safety and freedom. Our struggle to build Judaism beyond Zionism is not only an act of solidarity with Palestinians, but also a concrete commitment to creating that future for Jewish people.

Learn more about how to become a member.

As a Jewish organization, we understand deeply and personally the threat of antisemitism and believe that antisemitism is completely incompatible with any movement for collective liberation. We understand antisemitism as historically contextual, situated amidst interrelated conditions and struggles.

We fight antisemitism within, and as part of, broader struggles against oppression and for collective liberation. For instance, white nationalist violence has been on the rise in the U.S., fueled by anti-immigrant and racist manifestos, sentiments, and conspiracy theories, such as the “great replacement” theory. Jews are among the targets of white nationalist violence, along with Black people, immigrants, Muslims, and trans and queer people, among others.

Our safety is bound together with the safety of all people, and none of us is free if we aren’t all free. For more, you can see some examples of how we approach the work of dismantling antisemitism.

JVP has a specific, critical role to play in the movement for Palestinian liberation. As Jews, we work to answer the call of our Palestinian partners to build a Jewish movement that can effectively form a counterweight to Jewish Zionist support for Israeli apartheid. That often includes defending our Palestinian partner organizations, when they are accused of antisemitism for criticizing the policies of the Israeli state. 

Our role in the movement for Palestinian freedom is to shake the U.S.-Israel alliance by fundamentally changing the financial, cultural, and political calculus of Jewish support for Israeli apartheid and for Zionism. 

JVP is a grassroots, membership organization. Our dues-paying members elect a national board, who are responsible for overall stewardship of the organization, and who in turn hire/supervise an Executive Director. The Executive Director hires and leads a talented team of staff who run the day-to-day of the organization nationally. 

This includes building the infrastructure for local organizing and developing and supporting the leadership of member-leaders who lead the vast majority of JVP’s organizing around the country.

Large organizational shifts or plans (including the current 5-year strategic plan, and past shifts in JVP’s political positions around Zionism and the BDS movement) happen in very intentional processes, including layered consultation with partners, local chapters, and our broader membership.  

Many ongoing national decisions are made by a staff leadership team who are responsible for implementing our strategies and holding our multiple accountabilities as they do so.

We are funded by tens of thousands of individuals — people who share our vision of a world with safety and liberation for all. The majority of our annual budget comes from individual donors with an average donation of $60. Our generous member-donor community sustains our work and maintains our political independence. 

Less than 15% of our annual operating budget comes from grants. The majority of our foundational giving is from small family foundations, progressive movement foundations, and progressive donor organizing funding networks. We do not have corporate or governmental funders at this time.