Palestinian Freedom 2020: JVP Action Students Trail Candidates in Iowa

This winter break, 14 JVP Action students chose to spend their vacation trailing presidential candidates across Iowa on the Palestinian Freedom 2020 bus.

These Jewish, Black, Muslim, and Palestinian student activists brought passion and heat to Iowa with one unified call: 2020 is the year for Palestinian freedom, and we have to stop funding Israeli injustices now


They dramatically interrupted and shouted down former Senator John Kerry at a Joe Biden campaign event, calling out Biden’s consistent refusal to condemn Israel for its oppression of Palestinians. 


They peppered Senator Cory Booker with questions about why he supports the far-right agenda of silencing free speech and suppressing criticism of Israel’s human rights abuses. 

They passionately urged Senator Elizabeth Warren to go further by committing to leverage our military funding to Israel to stop human rights violations now


And they spoke with Senator Bernie Sanders about how we can push Congress to take bolder stances in support of Palestinian human rights and dignity. 


These students were bringing a simple message. Palestinians deserve to be free like everyone else.

Our tax dollars have been footing the bill for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians for decades. Yet senior Democratic political leaders are still refusing to catch up with their base and do what’s needed to hold Israel accountable: end the $3.8 billion in military funding we send each year. 

Americans are increasingly critical of Israel. The simple fact is, the more people learn about what’s really happening, the more support for Israel becomes a far-right issue. This election cycle — thanks to years and years of movement organizing, led by Palestinians — Palestinian rights are finally a part of the progressive conversation and agenda in this country.

This is the year we pull the conversation to the left. This is the year for Palestinian Freedom. 

Now that the Palestinian Freedom 2020 bus has rolled through Iowa, the next step is to show these Presidential campaigns that we have a massive base of Jews and allies behind our message.

Join us: www.palestinianfreedom2020.org