| | | | | | JCPA2021 Virtual Conference Registration Opens — Join us at the JCPA2021 National Conference April 25 - 26, 2021, and convene with your peers to grapple with and set a path forward on today’s pressing issues and impact of the pandemic, to helping the hungry, to ending systemic racism. The Jewish community has a unique role to play in supporting those in need, racial justice, ending antisemitism and hate, and building a just and pluralistic society from a Jewish lens.Through powerful and interactive plenaries, you will learn best practices and strategies and hone your advocacy and consensus-building skills. | |  | | | POLICY AND ADVOCACY Immigration Since taking office, one of President Biden's top priorities has been on improving our immigration, refugee, and asylum systems. Although the Administration has enacted or initiated many positive changes, there remains far more to be done. Below are a few highlights of our recent immigration work. | | - JCPA and Immigrant Rights Partners Score Big Win, Secure End to Harmful Visa Bans — On February 24, President Biden issued an executive action revoking proclamations that separated and harmed families by banning hundreds of thousands of immigrants from accessing visas and green cards. The ban impacted most family-based visas, diversity visas and some employment-based and nonimmigrant visas. The President's action was due in large part to JCPA and other other immigrant rights groups' advocacy. Click here to read our letter urging repeal.
- JCPA Expresses Concern About the Reopening of Temporary Influx Shelter for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children
| | JCPA is concerned that the Biden Administration’s has decided to reopen a temporary influx shelter in Texas for unaccompanied immigrant children. These facilities have been the sites of some of the worst conditions and systemic abuses over the past few years. JCPA urges non-carceral solutions for handling fluctuating rates of child migration. We will continue monitoring the situation closely. Click here to read JCPA's full statement. | | | | - JCPA Urges Administration to Repeal Unlawful Title 42 Deportation Order — JCPA and other human rights organizations have called on President Biden to end the misuse of Title 42 public health authority to deport asylum seekers and migrants, including children, without due process, to the very countries they have fled. The Biden Administration has continued to use this authority, issued over the objections of senior CDC officials in 2020, to deport thousands of asylum seekers, particularly Black asylum seekers.
| | | | | | American Jewish Organizations Condemn Military Rule in Burma, Call for U.S. Action — The Jewish Rohingya Justice Network (JRJN), of which JCPA is a member and cofounder, condemns the military’s coup in Burma (Myanmar), its brutal crackdown on peaceful protests, and the unjust and arbitrary detention and arrest of democratic leaders, activists, and protestors. This is the same military that has perpetrated a genocide against the Rohingya people. Click here to read the statement. | | | | | | CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM JCPA Urges Moratorium and End to Federal Death Penalty — For 17 years, the federal government placed executions on hiatus until former President Trump executed 13 people just before the end of his term. JCPA strongly opposes the death penalty. We joined with dozens of faith-based and civil rights organizations to urge the new Administration to take immediate executive action to halt all federal executions. House to Vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act this week. While JCPA and many other criminal justice advocates are disappointed that important improvements to police accountability and oversight provisions were not included, we have been a strong advocate for this bill and urge representatives to vote yes. This bill sets a critical floor for police conduct. | | | | | | March 5-7: HIAS National Refugee Shabbat — JCPA is a cosponsor of HIAS’s Refugee Shabbat, which offers a specific moment in the year for congregations, organizations, and individuals around the country to create a Shabbat experience dedicated to refugees and asylum seekers. We are witnessing one of the largest humanitarian crises in history, with more than 80 million people worldwide fleeing violence and persecution. Click here to learn more and register today! | | | | March 16: 2021 Mayors Summit Against Anti-Semitism — Join us for a conference with mayors from around the world as they discuss strategies for combating antisemitism. JCPA is cosponsoring the event, organized by Combatting Anti-Semitism Movement and the German city of Frankfurt am Main. Register today! | | | | March 30-April 1: Uyghur Week of Action — Since 2017, China has detained more than one million Uyghurs in internment camps. Uyghur people have been tortured, sterilized and murdered as part of an ongoing genocide. To raise global awareness and create lasting change, Jewish World Watch has partnered with JCPA and other Jewish and Uyghur organizations to advocate, engage businesses and fight against human rights abuses by China. Click here to learn more and register for the week of action.  | | | | | | EDUCATIONAL WEBINARS Tune In to JCPA’s Upcoming Webinars! Check out our what's planned next for our educational programs. Israel and Climate Change: Successes and Challenges
March 3, 2021 at 12 PM EST Israel as a small hot dry country is directly exposed to the consequences of the climate crisis in the coming decades. Join experts as they share their unique perspectives on this critical issue. Cosponsored with the Consulate General of Israel New York. Click here to register today! | | | | | |  Nigel Savage
Hazon | | |  Maya Jacobs
Zalul Environmental Association | | |  Yosef Abramowitz
Energiya Global | | |  Amb. Gideon Behar Israel's Special Envoy Climate Change
and Sustainability | | | | The Arab Vote: A Watershed Moment in Israeli Politics?
March 9, 2021 at 12 PM EST Over four election cycles in Israel in less than two years, the role of Arab voters, their concerns, electoral power, and internal diversity, attained unprecedented recognition. Now, parties across the political spectrum are adding Arab candidates to their lists and reaching out to Arab voters. Is this a watershed moment in Israel’s domestic Jewish-Arab relations? What tangible changes in representation or policies might it yield? Cosponsored with the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues. Click here to register today! | | | |  Makbulla Nassar
Journalist, Activist, and Fellow Mandel Program for Social Leadership | | |  Aluf Benn
Editor in Chief
Haaretz | | |  Liron Shoham
Executive Director
Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues | | | | Israel Upcoming Elections: What’s at Stake?
March 15, 2021 at 12 PM EST Israeli voters are going back to the polls on March 23rd for the fourth time in two years. What’s at stake in this election? How have the party coalitions organized themselves this time around? What are the unique dynamics of this election cycle, held in the wake of a highly successful vaccination effort, and what are the polls saying about the likely winners and losers? Click here to register today! | |  Haviv Gur
The Times of Israel | | |  Lahav Harkov
The Jerusalem Post | | | | In Case You Missed It... Check out the recordings from past JCPA webinars. Biden Administration and the Middle East: A Two-Part Series
How will the new Administration approach peace-making between Israel, Arab countries and the Palestinians? Israel has normalized relations with four Arab nations in the past five months in what’s referred to as the outside-in approach to peacemaking. Will the Biden Administration continue to build on the success of the Abraham Accords or focus on the Palestinian track? How will US policy on Iran likely affect these decisions. | | "The Guardian of Memory” Documentary and Panel
Missed JCPA and the JCRC of Reading's screening and talk back of "Guardian of Memory"? You can still watch it! This documentary follows Carlos Spector, a Jewish immigration lawyer living on the US-Mexico border, as he fights to obtain political asylum for Mexicans fleeing from violence. It is a story of Mexican men, women, and children seeking a respite from their tragedies by heading to their neighboring country, the US. It is also about the kindness and hope that still exists in people who have gone through hell and the efforts to keep memory alive. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), a network of 125 local Jewish community relations councils and 17 national Jewish agencies, advocates for a just and pluralistic America, Israel's quest for peace and security, and global human rights. | | | | | | | | | | | |
