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Since the tragic shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, our nation has been
captivated by the spirit of those students and other young people from across the country.
Like Nachson, who jumped in and took the first steps to split the Red Sea for the Jews to escape the approaching Egyptian forces, these young people have parted the political waters. They have
also leapt into the unknown with nothing but their faith and courage guiding them as they forge ahead.
During the Passover Seder, we are instructed to teach our children the story of Passover. They are to learn from us the lessons of freedom and redemption. However,
this year it is the parents and the adults who are learning from the children. It is
L'dor v'dor, from generation to generation, but in reverse.
This new, young generation is teaching us that
we cannot be complacent in a world that normalizes gun violence, racial and religious hatred and fails to accept those that are different from our selves.
The story of Passover is filled with struggle and hope; slavery and freedom. It is about
standing up to power so that we can change the world, one student and one vote at a time.
As we gather with our friends and families around the Seder table,
may we each be inspired to stand up, jump in, and lead the way as well.
Join with JAC as we work to elect candidates who will fight to ensure that our freedoms are guaranteed and extended to all.
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JAC members around the country turned out to March for Our Lives and common sense gun violence prevention.
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From l to r: Susan Klehr, Noah Klehr, and Deborah Gordon Klehr marched in Miami Beach.
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| From l to r: LaRue Porter and Gail Yamner marched in New York. |
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| Merle Styer marched in Jupiter, FL |
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| From l to r: Jim Terman, Bruce Balonick, Marcia Balonick, Hollis Wein, and Julie Mednick Simmons marched in Chicago. |
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From l to r: Sheila Small, Arielle Small, Sara Karoll,
Julie Mednick Simmons, Leora Karoll marched in Chicago
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U.S. Pledges Record $705 Million in Missile Defense Aid to Israel
Congress has dramatically increased its budget for the Israeli missile defense programs by $148 million to include ongoing Iron Dome and Arrow 3 development and production. "I am pleased and excited to announce that the U.S. Congress has approved a record sum for Israel's missile defense program: $705m. in 2018!" Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced.
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U.S Again Threatens to Leave Human Rights Council over Resolutions Against Israel
The United States again threatened to leave the United Nations Human Rights Council after the international body passed five resolutions against Israel. The Council also passed two resolutions against Syria, and one each against North Korea, Iran, South Sudan and Myanmar. "When the Human Rights Council treats Israel worse than North Korea, Iran and Syria, it is the Council itself that is foolish and unworthy of its name," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said in a statement issued by the U.S. Diplomatic Mission.
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Hamas's 'Defensive' Drill Seen as a Warning to Israel, Abbas, and Trump
Hamas mounted a large-scale military exercise in the Gaza Strip, the terror group's largest show of force in recent years. The timing of the maneuvers seemed to be more significant than the weapons on display. The exercise came days before mass protests that Hamas and several Palestinian factions are planning near the border with Israel.
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Holocaust Studies Mandatory in Kentucky Schools Due to Push by Catholic Teacher
Advocacy by a Catholic middle school teacher helped convince the Kentucky legislature to make teaching about the Holocaust mandatory in public schools. The bill requires every public middle and high school in the state to include in their curriculum instruction on the Holocaust and other acts of genocide, as defined by the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
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Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Lay Groundwork for Roe Challenge
State lawmakers and anti-abortion groups across the U.S. have ramped up their push for restrictions on abortion, part of a strategy to get the Supreme Court to re-examine - and overturn - Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion. Emboldened by the Trump administration and possible changes to the makeup of the Supreme Court, more states are looking at laws that would ban abortion at a certain point in pregnancy.
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States Are Passing Laws Telling Women Abortion Can Be Reversed - but That's Unproven.
"Abortion reversal" laws are quietly cropping up around the country, based on little more than conjecture. The authors of these bills rely on small case studies that have been disputed by OB-GYNs - insisting time and again that they simply want to give women more information. The laws are predicated on the idea, disputed by substantial research, that women who have abortions frequently regret their decisions.
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Despite Porn Stars and Playboy Models, White Evangelicals Aren't Rejecting Trump. This Is Why.
Why are white Christians sticking so closely to Trump, despite claims of sexual indiscretions? Why are religious individuals and groups that previously decried sexual impropriety among political leaders willing to give Trump a "mulligan" on his infidelity? Voters' religious tenets aren't what is behind Trump support; rather, it's Christian nationalism - the view of the U.S. as a fundamentally Christian nation.
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Retired Justice John Paul Stevens Urges Repeal of 2nd Amendment
Retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens is calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment to allow for significant gun control legislation. He says that repeal would weaken the National Rifle Association's ability to "block constructive gun control legislation."
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NRA, Gunmakers Should've Feared the 'Trump Slump' Instead of President Hillary Clinton
Remington Outdoor Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the day after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets protesting gun violence. President Trump's promise that the Second Amendment is safe has produced a classic supply-and-demand predicament for gun manufacturers: Without fear of a supply crunch, the demand drops.
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2020 Census Citizenship Question Is All About Voter Suppression
The Commerce Department confirmed Monday night that the 2020 census will ask respondents if they are U.S. citizens or not. On the face of it, that's an innocuous question, and it was asked regularly until 1950. But beneath the surface, it's yet another spoke in the wheel of Republican voter suppression. The net effect of the change will be the opposite: people in states with more immigrants (again, documented and undocumented alike) will be under-represented in Congress.
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Does a Rash of GOP Retirements Portend a Democratic Wave in November?
They're headed for the exits in Congress, deciding they've had enough and quit rather than run again. Some were chased out by sexual harassment charges. Others wished to spare themselves uphill reelection fights. Many are leaving to advance careers, run for Senate or seek governor's office.
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Donald Trump Is Making an Appalling Mess of Our Government and John Bolton Is Exhibit A
The chaos deepens. With this constant game of musical chairs among President Trump's administration, the country lurches dangerously from one incoherent policy to another. But the deeper story is what has been done to our agencies of government, and the record is appalling.
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Challenge for Female Candidates: 'It's Hard to Beat an Incumbent, Period'
Hundreds of other women vying for the House and Senate - many for the first time - their campaigns, no matter how much energy is behind them, often butt up against a nearly insurmountable wall: beating a sitting office-holder.
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Linda Brown, Center of Watershed Desegregation Case, Dies at 76
Linda Brown, the 12-year-old girl who was the subject of the unanimous 1954 Supreme Court decision that outlawed formal school segregation, died this week. Linda's father, Oliver, was actually the plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education. He filed suit after the school board would not let him enroll Linda in an all-white elementary school near their home. The case dealt an ultimately fatal blow to the constitutionality of formally segregated schools.
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Kosher Supermarkets Hate Cleaning for Passover as Much as You Do
Pomegranate, a supermarket in Brooklyn, spends $75,000 every year getting its kitchen ready for Passover. Hungarian Foods in Chicago starts clearing its aisles eight weeks before Passover. At Zabar's, in Manhattan, a staff of twelve work 18 hours a day packing food. If you thought your Passover prep was hard, you've got nothing on the managers of Jewish supermarkets.
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"I didn't understand what was happening then, but it was clear that 'Brown v Board of Education' was a necessary victory. It might have been a little spark, but it set off a mighty flame."
Linda Brown
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JACII Meeting
Chicago, IL
Wednesday, April 11
5:30 pm
Details to follow
Join the inaugural meeting of Chicago's JACII Group for those 35 and younger.
Contact the JAC office for more information.
847.433.5999
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The 17th Annual
Women's Power Lunch
with Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Come sit at the JAC table!
Monday, April 23
Chicago, IL
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Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a pro-Israel PAC with a domestic agenda. We support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and advocate for reproductive health and the separation of religion and state and incorporate other issues of importance to the Jewish community, including gun violence prevention and climate change. In addition to providing financial support for U.S. Senate and House campaigns, JACPAC educates our membership with outreach events designed to inform and activate their participation in the political process.
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Federal law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer for each individual who contributed to JACPAC. Maximum contribution per person may not exceed $5,000 per calendar year. According to law, JACPAC cannot accept corporate contributions. Membership, gifts, or other payments to JACPAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
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