I’m finally home from Chicago and wanted to share my experience of the DNC with you, plus invite you to add your voice at our new website JewsForKamala.com.
It was incredible to be at the DNC with so many friends, movement partners, and elected officials we support who are working to build a true multiracial democracy — people we’ve fought with, shoulder to shoulder, through massive wins and disappointing losses, and all those we are still pushing and holding accountable.
The vision was clear and inspiring: a country where all people can thrive, where we block Trump and the GOP’s plans to take away our freedoms, so that we can realize the safe and joyful future we all deserve.
There were also heartbreaking moments. Our Palestinian and Arab friends and partners, who fight alongside us on all the critical domestic issues in our focus, were not given the chance to feel welcomed into the big tent that’s fighting to defeat Trump.
Thank you to the thousands of people who rose up quickly to amplify the demand for Palestinian representation on the DNC stage. Our Washington Director Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block and I appeared in the media amplifying the Uncommitted Movement’s demand in the Forward, Haaretz, Religion News Service, Mother Jones, and the Guardian.
I spoke to Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, the amazing Palestinian elected official who was one of the many speakers the DNC was able to choose from. Ruwa wanted to tell her story and have her people be included so that we can beat Trump. Because we will need to rebuild the coalition that did it the last time. You can read her moving speech here.
At the end of the day, I’m going to fight like hell to get Harris elected, and make sure our friends and allies — who have fought with us and for us — are included in the movement to defeat Trump. Last month at the RNC, we saw what the other side is planning is just way too dangerous. It’s only in a Harris presidency that we will have the ability to advocate for the country we desperately need:
A country with a just immigration policy that doesn’t criminalize people.
A country where people have bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.
A country that keeps our communities safer without leaning into policing and mass incarceration.
A country that dismantles anti-Black racism, antisemitism, white supremacy, and all forms of oppression.
A country that prioritizes democracy, human rights, and safety, both here and abroad, including for Israelis and Palestinians.
A country whose policies truly help ALL people thrive. A country that ensures that when we say all of us, we mean all of us.
Add your “Why” at JewsForKamala.com
I am going to keep fighting all these fights. I’m hoping to elect the person with the most potential and history of doing these things, and the first Black, South Asian woman and her blended Jewish family, to our highest office. And I’m going to also fight to make sure this is for all of us. For me and my family and for Ruwa and hers.
With fierce hope and care,
Jamie Beran
CEO, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
