Activities

• JVP is a leader in BDS campaigns in a variety of different forums, including with local governments and on university campuses. This includes lobbying the Durham, North Carolina City Council to announce a freeze on joint training sessions between local law enforcement and their Israeli counterparts.
• JVP supports and promotes the Palestinian narrative of “Nakba” (referring to the establishment of the State of Israel as a “catastrophe,”), as well as a Palestinian “right of return,” which, if implemented, would mean the elimination of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.
• The group has embraced and advocated on behalf of Palestinian terrorists such as Ahmed Sa’adat and Rasmea Odeh. Similarly, JVP regularly justifies and excuses Palestinian violence.
• JVP routinely draws false and antisemitic parallels between the treatment of African-Americans and Palestinians, including by blaming Israel and US Jewish groups for racism and police brutality in the US.
  • In June 2020, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston posted a cartoon on its Facebook page calling to “Stop land theft,” “Defund the Police,” and “Stop Funding Violence From the US to Palestine.”
  • In August 2020, JVP joined the campaign against the ADL claiming it is the “single largest non-governmental police trainer.” The defamatory and antisemitic campaign accuses the ADL of funding trips to “train with the Israeli military and meet Israeli counterinsurgency specialists. Black and Palestinian activists have pointed to the parallels in tactics and shared weapons used to suppress uprisings in Ferguson and Palestine.”
• In November 2023, Columbia University suspended JVP claiming it violated university policies and expressed “threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”
• In December 2016, JVP was presented the “Defender of Liberty” award from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an anti-Israel organization that supports BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) against Israel as a response to “one of the greatest forms of injustice in our time – Apartheid.”

Apartheid Rhetoric

• JVP is part of a network of NGOs that promote artificial and manufactured definitions of apartheid to extend the ongoing campaigns that seek to delegitimize and demonize Israel. (Read NGO Monitor’s Policy Papers “False Knowledge as Power: Deconstructing Definitions of Apartheid that Delegitimise the Jewish State” and “Neo-Orientalism: Deconstructing claims of apartheid in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”)
• In October 2023, in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, JVP published a press release claiming “The Root of Violence Is Oppression.” According to JVP, “The Israeli government may have just declared war, but its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago. Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression — are the source of all this violence. Reality is shaped by when you start the clock. For 16 years, the Israeli government has suffocated Palestinians in Gaza under a draconian air, sea and land military blockade, imprisoning and starving two million people and denying them medical aid….For 75 years, the Israeli government has maintained a military occupation over Palestinians, operating an apartheid regime.”
  • In October 2023, JVP tweeted, “Just as we demand an end to genocide in Gaza, we must put the same effort into dismantling the systems of Zionism, apartheid, and colonialism that brought us to this moment.”
• In February 2022, JVP published a statement defending a report published by Amnesty International accusing Israel of apartheid. According to the statement, “This latest contribution to the growing body of work by Palestinian and Israeli rights groups, as well as the United Nations, offers vital proof…It determines that the Israeli state is irrefutably an apartheid regime.”
• On April 21, 2021, a coalition of American NGOs, including JVP, launched a campaign titled “End Medical Apartheid from the US to Palestine: a call to action.”
• In January 2020, JVP referred to the newly-released President Trump “Peace Plan” as an “apartheid plan.” According to Rabbi Alissa Wise, JVP Deputy Director, “It’s a distraction ploy by two warmongerers who are prioritizing their personal election campaigns over any semblance of statecraft. International law, global consensus and decades of U.S. policy concur that Palestinian land isn’t for Trump to give away nor for Netanyahu to steal.”

Justifying Palestinian “Resistance” and Embracing Terrorists

• JVP supported convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh during her deportation proceedings and hosted her as a featured speaker at their 2017 National Membership Meeting.
  • Rasmea Odeh, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) operative was convicted for immigration fraud after concealing her role in two terrorist bombings in Israel. The PFLP is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
• In May 2023, JVP tweeted, “Gaza is under attack. After killing Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan with the barbaric system of administrative detention, the Israeli military is now bombing millions of Palestinians in Gaza, besieged by the Israeli military with nowhere to hide…The Israeli military carries out these horrific attacks to terrorize Palestinians and silence any resistance, demonstrated bravely by Palestinians like Khader Adnan, in defiance of Israel’s apartheid regime.”
  • Khader Adnan, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad member arrested in February 2023 and indicted for membership in a terror group, supporting a terrorist organization, and incitement, died following his 86-day-long hunger strike and refusal to receive medical treatment from the Israeli Prisons Service.
• In August 2022, JVP was a signatory on a letter to President Biden condemning the decision by the Israeli Ministry to designate six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations. According to the letter, “The targeted organizations form part of the bedrock of Palestinian civil society that has been protecting and advancing Palestinian human rights for decades across the full spectrum of issues of global concern.” The letter also called to “Suspend U.S. military funding to the Israeli government and cease any diplomatic efforts that enable systemic impunity for Israel’s gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights.”
• In April 2020, JVP interviewed Laura Whitehorn about her activism with political prisoners. Whitehorn served “14 years in jail for her role in a 1983 bombing at the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.”
• In January 2017, JVP San Diego endorsed a campaign lobbying for the release of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) General Secretary Ahmed Sa’adat, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for heading an “illegal terrorist organization,” as well as for his involvement in planning many of the group’s attacks such as the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi.
• Promotes false allegations that the “Al-Aqsa mosque” is under threat “due to the escalation of Israeli settler violence, which is supported by the Israeli police and military” and that Israel “fanned the flames of Palestinian grassroots resistance by stepping up its attacks against al-Aqsa mosque.” These claims are often used by Palestinians to justify attacks on Israeli civilians.
• In October 2015, referred to an increase in terror attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces as “Palestinian popular resistance” and posted a statement on its Facebook page that praises “a new generation of Palestinians…rising up en-masse against Israel’s brutal, decades-old regime of occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”

Engaging in Antisemitic Rhetoric and Ignoring Antisemitism

• In April 2023, JVP was a signatory on a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General urging the UN to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. According to JVP, the IHRA definition “opens the door to labeling as antisemitic… findings of major Israeli, Palestinian and global human rights organizations that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.”
  • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly 30 countries and counting, represents the international consensus definition of antisemitism, as well as how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. An example of the latter includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
• In January 2023, JVP was a signatory on a letter to the American Bar Association stating that “the clear objective behind the promotion of the IHRA definition is the suppression of non-violent protest, activism, and criticism of Israel and/or Zionism…in practice the IHRA definition has been used consistently (and nearly exclusively) not to fight antisemitism, but rather to defend Israel and harm Palestinians – at the cost of undermining and dangerously chilling fundamental rights of free speech, freedom of assembly and protest, and academic freedom.”
  • In December 2021, Jewish Voice for Peace Action and Palestine Legal published a document, “Dismantle Antisemitism, Not Palestinian Rights: Oppose the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism.” According to the document, “The controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism does not make Jewish people safer, but it does threaten Palestinian rights advocates, and free speech. By design, the IHRA definition’s focus on branding criticism of Israel as antisemitic makes it a tool to silence Palestinians and shield the Israeli government from accountability.”
  • In April 2021, JVP issued a press release alleging that “the discredited IHRA definition has been a tool to silence Palestinians and safeguard Israeli government impunity.”
• In June 2017, launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign, that aims to “end police exchange programs between the US and Israel.” JVP claims that American Jewish organizations and programs are to blame for police violence against minorities in America.
  • The initial “Deadly Exchange” video labeled AIPAC, ADL, Birthright and other Jewish organizations as being responsible for these exchanges, and urged viewers to “Hold accountable the Jewish institutions who run and fund the deadly exchange.”
  • As a result of JVP lobbying, the Durham, North Carolina City Council voted in April 2018 to ban joint training activities with the Israel Police.
• Beginning September 2015, JVP co-sponsored a speaking tour in the United States for Bassem Tamimi. Tamimi has expressed support for antisemitic sentiments including the claim that Israelis detain Palestinian children to harvest their organs and that the Zionists control the media.
  • Tamimi was convicted in 2012 of encouraging Palestinian youths to throw stones at Israeli soldiers. His appearance in a third grade classroom sparked outrage, and the school’s superintendent denounced the remarks as “inflammatory
• In response to the January 2015 Paris terror attacks, including the attack on a kosher market, JVP published a blog post (“The Paris Murders & the Islamophobic Backlash“) ignoring antisemitism and instead highlighting that “Muslims are at greatly heightened risk from the forces of bigotry. This latest backlash occurs in the context of pervasive, systemic, and long-standing anti-Islam bigotry in many countries around the world.”

ICC Activities

• On November 28, 2022, JVP and 197 other regional and international civil society organizations sent an open letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan urging him to “Investigate and Deter Israel’s Apartheid Regime.” According to the letter, “Though mindful of the Court’s limited resources and budgetary complications, as well as your office workload and challenges, we are compelled to stress that Palestinian victims deserve justice and require equal attention as in other situations…we will continue our cooperation with your office and our support of your investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine.”
• In March 2021, JVP welcomed the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch a formal investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the “State of Palestine.” According to JVP, “An International Criminal Court investigation is a welcome and necessary step toward holding the Israeli government accountable for its egregious and ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights and international law…We will continue to struggle for an end to Israeli apartheid rule and for a future in which all Palestinians and Israelis live with equality, freedom, and justice.”

Support for BDS

• According to its website, “Jewish Voice for Peace endorses the call from Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) as part of our work for freedom, justice and equality for all people. We believe that the time-honored, non-violent tools proposed by the BDS call provide powerful opportunities to make that vision real.”
• JVP states that its “goal, and the goal of the BDS movement” is to hold “any government accountable for violating the human rights of others—and that includes Israel… the United States has given Israel a free pass for decades, providing massive economic and military aid, and unconditional diplomatic support, thus allowing Israel to take Palestinian land and destroy Palestinian lives with impunity.”
• JVP provides cover for BDS and attempts to shield activists from accusations of antisemitism: “We will defend activists around the world who employ the full range of BDS tactics when they are demonized or wrongly accused of antisemitism.”
• JVP’s Student Network works to advance BDS resolutions and anti-Israel demonization on college campuses, including at Vassar, George Washington University (GWU), and Barnard.
• In May 2023, the JVP Rabbinical Council published a statement claiming that, “As rabbis who support nonviolent tactics pursued for the sake of justice, including boycott, divestment, and sanctions, we are encouraged by all actions that hold the Israeli state accountable for its regime of oppression against Palestinians.”
• In February 2023, JVP was a signatory on a statement “welcom[ing] the historic announcement by the Barcelona City Council to suspend all institutional relations with apartheid Israel.” JVP called for “arms embargo against apartheid Israel, stopping trade with Israel’s illegal colonial settlements, and ending projects and agreements that sustain the illegal situation, including the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the EU-Israel Association Council, international agreements for gas pipes through the Gaza coast, and the Euro-Asia Interconnector project receiving electricity from Israel’s colonial settlement enterprise.”
• In January 2023, JVP was a joint signatory on a call to Congress to “take immediate policy action towards accountability: Stop arming Israel’s massacres against the Palestinian people by ending U.S. military funding to Israel.”
• In February 2022, JVP drew false equivalencies between Russia/Ukraine and Israel, stating that “Our anti-war stance is consistent with our demand that the US stop all military funding to Israel and end its complicity in Israeli occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing — all of which are violations of the same “international law” US leaders invoke in the case of Russia.”
• In September 2021, JVP launched a petition to “Say NO to another $1 billion in military funding to Israel.” The petition called for members of Congress to “oppose the additional $1 billion dollars in military funding for the Iron Dome to the Israeli government that is coming for a vote today. We already send the Israeli military $3.8 billion a year, and under no circumstances should the congressperson support sending an additional $1 billion dollars.”
• In August 2021, JVP signed a letter to the States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty, calling to “put an end to Israel’s notorious use of arms and military equipment…by immediately imposing a comprehensive two-way arms embargo on Israel.” According to the letter, “This systematic brutality, perpetrated throughout the past seven decades of Israel’s colonialism, apartheid, pro-longed illegal belligerent occupation, persecution, and closure, is only possible because of the complicity of some governments and corporations around the world.”
• In May 2021, JVP published a press release calling to “Support the Palestinian-led call for BDS, demand an end to U.S. military funding to Israel, and help us build a Judaism and Jewish community beyond Zionism.”
• In June 2019, JVP launched the campaign “dropanyvision,” meant to pressure Microsoft to “cut all Microsoft investment in (Israeli company) AnyVision.”
• In March 2019, JVP held a campaign titled “#SkipAIPAC,” calling on Members of Congress to “#SkipAIPAC this year and every year until Palestine is free.” According to the campaign, “Netanyahu always makes it so easy to support the boycott on Israel.”
• Between March 31-April 2, 2017, JVP held its “2017 National Member Meeting” that included workshops such as, “What Makes HP Such a Brilliant BDS Target?,” “Fightback against Anti-BDS legislation,” and “BDS: Everything you Want to Know about Municipal Campaigns.”
• Discourages Jewish students from participating in Birthright trips to Israel, explaining that “As young Jews, we recognize that Israel is not our birthright.”
• JVP is involved in a campaign targeting Airbnb to end “illegal rentals in the West Bank,” and has lobbied for the Presbyterian Church and the TIAA-CREF retirement fund to adopt divestment resolutions.
• On February 2, 2016, JVP, together with “Jews Say No!,” circulated a deceptive print and online edition of The New York Times to protest the newspaper’s coverage of Israel. The front page of the falsified edition read, “Congress to Debate U.S. Aid to Israel” and featured several ads, including one for Shalom Cement, a company specializing in building “apartheid walls,” and another for a luxury watch that reads: “The time is now to end Israeli military aid.”
• In August 2014, along with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), ran the “BDS Summer Institute,” to train college students to stage BDS events on campus.
• JVP formerly ran the “Muzzle Watch” blog, which billed itself as “Tracking efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy.” The blog often referred to complaints lodged against campus BDS activists for violating various laws and regulations or to attempts to prevent schools from hosting BDS events. In a number of the cases detailed on the site, JVP had been directly involved in supporting campus BDS activities.

No Way to Treat a Child

• Since 2015, JVP is a “National campaign partner” for the campaign “No Way to Treat a Child,” a vehicle for exploiting children for political warfare against Israel. The campaign was initiated by PFLP-linked Defense for Children International- Palestine and BDS organizer American Friends Service Committee. A February 20, 2017 exposé in the Jerusalem Post revealed the central claims of this campaign to be false.
• The groups call upon the United States government to pressure Israel to end “abuse of Palestinian children,” and encourage supporters to write members of congress on behalf of their cause. The campaign claims that a letter addressed to President Obama calling for the establishment of a Special Envoy for Palestinian Children, initiated by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and signed by 20 US congressmen, was a “direct response” to demands made by its supporters.
• In 2017, 2019, and 2021, JVP endorsed US Congresswoman McCollum’s proposed legislation “to prevent United States tax dollars from supporting the Israeli military’s ongoing detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children.” The entirety of the proposed bill is premised on factually inaccurate claims from anti-Israel advocacy NGOs, including direct quotes from DCIP’s “No Way to Treat a Child” 2016 report and website.

Staff

• Beth Miller, JVP Senior Government Affairs Manager, previously served as the U.S. Advocacy Officer for Defense for Children International Palestine (DCI-P).
  • Numerous individuals with alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel, have been employed and appointed as board members at DCI-P. For more information on DCI-P’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Defense for Children International – Palestine’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
• Grace Lile, chair of the JVP Board of Directors, is the Director of Operations at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
  • CCR is active in lawfare suits against Israel and Israeli officials (including Avi Dichter and Moshe Ya’alon); promotes anti-Israel BDS campaigns; urges the U.S. government to stop providing military aid to Israel; presents an entirely biased and distorted view of the conflict and utilizes highly politicized rhetoric, accusing Israel of  “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity,” and other such allegations.
• Phyllis Bennis, member of the JVP Board of Directors, founded the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (formerly known as the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation).
  • USCPR is a national coalition of hundreds of groups working to advocate for Palestinian rights and a shift in US policy and is a leader and mobilizer of anti-Israel BDS campaigns.

2019-2022 Funding to JVP