Yousef Munayyer
Executive Director
We are building together towards a world with justice for all—from the U.S. to Palestine.
When S.1, the Strengthening America's Security in the Middle East Act, failed to pass its first three Senate votes early in 2019, I knew this year was going to be different.
S.1 is a bill that attempts to punish individuals boycotting for Palestinian rights. It is the kind of bill, with AIPAC-sponsored language, that would sail through Congress in previous years. But this time, three votes were taken and three votes failed to pass S.1.
The new wave of resistance to campaigns targeting advocates for Palestinian rights continued outside of Congress. Progressives repeatedly refused to follow the pro-Israel script. When Dr. Angela Davis had a civil rights award revoked in January 2019 over her support for Palestinian rights, public outcry forced backtracking and apologies.
In March, when establishment Democratic leadership threatened to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar for comments supporting Palestinian rights, we mobilized, and with you, pushed for the passage of a resolution condemning all forms of bigotry.
When the Israeli government declared that Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar would not be allowed into Palestine/Israel on a planned Congressional delegation, the uproar was deafening.
Increasingly, cutting edge work for Palestinian rights is playing out in the court of progressive public opinion. As the terrain shifts, we are building alliances and coalitions with progressive movements and other freedom struggles.
With you behind us, USCPR adds value to the U.S.-based solidarity movement by coordinating strategies across a wide coalition and running campaigns to advance justice for all as we widen our base.
S.1 ultimately passed a fourth Senate vote and remains stalled in the House. This is a reminder that even with the other significant breakthroughs of the past 12 months detailed in the pages to follow, there is still a long road to freedom ahead of us.
Your previous support has taken us this far. Thank you. I sincerely hope you will be proud to see all that we have built together.
With your renewed support, we can do even more to bring us closer to justice, freedom, and equality for the Palestinian people.
today in the U.S…
40% of people in the U.S. and 56% of Democrats support sanctions on Israel if it keeps building settlements
129 members of Congress made a public statement condemning Israel’s refusal of entry to Reps. Tlaib and Omar
72% of people in the U.S.—across party lines—oppose laws that would stifle our right to boycott
Campaign by campaign, we are creating a world where the movement for Palestinian freedom, justice, and equality takes deeper root in the U.S. and flourishes in our communities, from Capitol Hill to your hometown.
A NATIONAL COALITION
USCPR is a national coalition of more than 330 groups supporting the Palestinian people’s struggle for self-determination, freedom, justice, and equality.
USCPR is a political home for those committed to Palestinian freedom in a world without racism and oppression. We come together to channel grassroots advocacy into the halls of power and challenge U.S. complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights. Our coordination of national initiatives on Palestinian rights stretches the impact of every dollar we raise. Your support helps us actively organize, coordinate, and resource the work of national partners and local allies.
When you are a small volunteer organization, being a part of USCPR’s partner network is like having your own brain trust. They focus on information gathering and narrative crafting and we get to focus on mobilizing our communities and influencing our lawmakers. It’s the difference between achieving collective impact and burnout and frustration.
—Alia Salem (Texas)
BREAKING NEW POLITICAL GROUND
As part of a global movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we work to stop U.S. support for Israel until it ends its denial of Palestinian rights.
Building Support for THE PROTECTION OF Palestinian Children
On May 1, 2019, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) reintroduced legislation aimed at ending U.S. funding for the Israeli military detention and abuse of Palestinian children. USCPR worked with Rep. McCollum’s office, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the American Friends Service Committee, and other friendly Congressional offices to add more than 20 cosponsors to H.R. 2407. USCPR also created widely-distributed advocacy resources on the bill, including a one-pager featured by The Nation.
Advancing Accountability on Capitol Hill
In 2019, we continued our tradition of amplifying Palestinian voices on Capitol Hill by organizing three separate week-long delegations of leaders from Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Adalah Justice Project, and Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.
A Growing Network of Congressional Advocacy GRASSROOTS Leaders
Since the 116th Congress came into session at the start of 2019, a wave of progressive voices have presented exciting new opportunities (and challenges!) for Palestinian rights. USCPR has been in the trenches, holding the line while simultaneously pushing for new ground on demanding justice in the halls of power. Critical to making that happen is our leadership of a rapidly growing volunteer network of grassroots leaders who specialize in Congressional advocacy. When action is needed, we mobilize 115 trusted activists in more than 70 Congressional districts to make strategic interventions.
Since joining USCPR's grassroots advocacy leaders network, I’ve found lots of reasons to be grateful: solid and up to date information about proposed and current legislation that impacts Palestinians, great tools to use for advocacy work, and a wonderfully committed and informed group of activists to work with on hot button issues.
- Paula Roderick (Illinois)
Protecting Our Right to Boycott for Justice
In response to relentless attacks on our right to boycott for justice, we led a drive to get 250+ movement leaders, scholars, and organizations to sign a letter calling on Congress to uphold our right to political expression. We provided talking points, calls to action, and memos throughout the year on a series of anti-Palestinian rights bills (e.g., S. 1/H.R. 336, S.R. 120, S. 852, H. Res. 246), leading thousands of our supporters to call and email Democratic leadership, successfully stalling these bills.
Defending Our Congressional Allies
Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar continue to endure relentless racist, sexist, and Islamophobic attacks for their staunch support of Palestinian rights. But when the Israeli government announced that it would deny the Congresswomen entry to Palestine/Israel in August 2019, the announcement was met with outrage. We helped ignite the storm of indignation and focus the narrative on Palestinian rights on MSNBC, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Middle East Eye.
Just a few months earlier, Representative Omar came under vicious attack for her comments supporting Palestinian rights. We mobilized in her defense and joined a coalition of progressive, Muslim, Palestinian, and Jewish organizations to demand the Democratic leadership pass a resolution condemning all forms of racism and bigotry, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. We won—H.R. 183 passed on March 7, 2019.
Organizing at the IntersectioNs
The Palestinian struggle is intrinsically tied to freedom struggles across the world.
A PROGRESSIVE VISION OF JUSTICE FOR ALL
The Justice for All campaign, in partnership with the Adalah Justice Project (AJP), demands a fundamental change in U.S. policy on Palestine/Israel with an end to all U.S. military funding to Israel, as well as the adoption of progressive policies that uphold freedom, justice, and equality for all—from the U.S. to Palestine.
The U.S. has repeatedly refused to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing human rights violations and funnels $3.8 billion in military funding to Israel each year—paid for with taxpayer dollars—effectively subsidizing its well-documented and brutal violence against the Palestinian people living under Israel’s racist, separate-and-unequal system of control and domination.
15 years after Palestinian civil society called for boycott, divestment, and sanctions for Palestinian rights, sustained grassroots organizing has brought us to a political moment in which more and more progressives understand that the Israeli government’s oppression of the Palestinian people is incompatible with their values. We are capitalizing on that moment and building with our partners, through sustained organizing and policy change, towards a world with justice for all.
standing with dr. angela davis
In January 2019, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute voted to rescind its decision to bestow its highest honor, the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, on renowned Black scholar and activist Dr. Angela Davis. With our partners at the Dream Defenders, we mobilized to support Dr. Davis with a social media campaign, connected organizations and supporters, and created a widely-used online toolkit with educational resources and ways to take action
CLAIMING SPACE FOR PALESTINIAN RIGHTS in Key Progressive Political Spaces
Palestine is a progressive issue and that truth extends beyond the halls of Congress. Over the last few years, we have expanded our presence in key progressive political spaces, bringing our interventions on Palestinian rights to conferences, convenings, and advocacy days. In the spring and summer of 2019, we hosted workshops, trainings, tabled, and spoke at conferences and gatherings all over the country! We also worked with volunteers in more than 70 Congressional districts to build grassroots support for Palestinian rights.
FINANces
Over the last 12 months, 3,451 people made 7,840 contributions to USCPR and our average gift was $83.
Each and every gift powers our work to demand change and an end to U.S. complicity in Israeli human rights abuses.
Revenue
Functional Expenses
BY THE NUMBERS
81 cents of every dollar goes toward USCPR’s programs work for freedom, justice, equality for the palestinian people in a world without racism and oppression.
We spend just two cents on fundraising costs and 17 cents on operations. See our annual reports and financial statements.
We also hold a Platinum rating from Guidestar! The Seal of Transparency means that USCPR has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate the organization.
The tax ID number (EIN) of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights is 42-1636592. We are a registered 501(c)3 organization.
Join Us
in Building Towards Justice for All
Together, we are creating a world where the movement for Palestinian freedom, justice, and equality takes deeper root in the U.S. and flourishes in our communities, from Capitol Hill to your hometown. Your support allows us to keep building power in communities across the US as we educate, organize, and advocate for Palestinian rights. Thank you!
