Welcome Advocacy Corps! This year you will be working to organize your local communities to advocate for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the restoration of UNRWA funding. Below are some of the most important documents and forms you will need throughout your ten-month program.
Understanding What’s Happening in Israel/Palestine
In the following sections you can find policy resources and a step-by-step guide to making a lobby visit happen. Ten months is a long time, and it’s helpful to have a refresher on the basic skills we learned in our August training.
UNRWA funding – what is it and why is it gone?
Ceasefire in Gaza – what is a ceasefire?
- FCNL Middle East Trip Op-Ed by Hassan El-Tayyab and Bridget Moix
- Ceasefire tracker
-
Briefing on the Israeli case for a ceasefire: Twitter thread with main takeaways
US arms sales to Israel - what does that mean?
Learn more about the history of Palestine and Israel
Books
- The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability by Jasbir K. Puar
- Rifqa by Mohammed El Kurd (Palestinian poet, writer, journalist)
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance by Tareq Baconi (Palestinian scholar, activist, analyst)
- My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit (Israeli journalist)
- Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha (Palestinian poet)
Films
- Disturbing the Peace (Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on Palestine/Israel)
- Israelism (An exploration of Jewish attitudes towards Israel)
- Tomorrow’s Freedom (Story of imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouthi and his family’s fight for his freedom)
Podcasts
- Bad Hasbara: The World’s Most Loyal Podcast Matt Lieb
- Disillusioned podcast by Yahav Erez (Anti-apartheid Israeli perspectives)
- The Ezra Klein Show: Building the Palestinian State with Salam Fayyad episode
- The Erza Klein Show: Watching the Protests from Israel episode
- The Palestine Pod
- Let’s Talk Palestine
Videos
Congressional Staff Look Up
How do I prepare for a lobby visit?
1. Watch this 30 minute video training video from our national field organizer!
2. Read over this leave-behind. This document has the basic information on our ask for Congress.
3. Write your story! You can use this storytelling worksheet as a guide.
Find an example story here. Although this example is for another issue, you can hear the general structure and framing of a story.
4. Find contact information for the staffer you’d like to meet with, and send an email requesting a visit by telephone or video conference.
5. Make sure you’re caught up on basic background information related to this issue (See resources above.)
6. Structure your lobby visit with this roadmap.
Watch an example lobby visit here. Although this example is for another issue, you can hear the general structure and flow of a visit.
What Should I Do After My Lobby Visit?
1. Fill out the lobby report-back form. You can watch this video for more information about how to fill out the form.
2. Send a follow-up email to the staffer you met with.
2. Have any constituents that lobbied for the first time fill out this form.
Join our email list!
Stay informed and stay active
