JACPAC News & Opinion Digest

September 12, 2014 
This 9/11, JAC reflects and remembers all the people lost. Israel is the only other country that has a 9/11 memorial that lists the names of those who perished during the terrorist attack.  



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This week we highlight two Congressmen, Gary Peters (D-MI) and Bruce Braley (D-IA) who are running for the Senate. They have consistently stood up for women with their votes and advocacy.  They are looking to fill the seats of retiring long time,JAC friends Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Tom Harkin (D-IA).  Harkin and Levin were Senate leaders who fought to protect women's health care rights, including access to reproductive care.  Peters and Braley stood up to the extreme right, anti-choice members in the House. JAC can count on them to vote for VAWA, equal pay, reproductive rights and access to contraception in the U.S. Senate. Women's votes can make a difference in these races.

 
Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)

Peters is running against a candidate whose extreme, anti-choice views included opposing abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest.  His opponent also supports personhood measures and believes women should purchase special insurance coverage just in case they get raped.  According to Peters, "Using women's health as a political pawn, is not only immoral, it undermines our economy and puts women at a disadvantage."  He believes women have the right to determine what's best for them without interference from their employers.  DONATE to Gary Peters TODAY.  He is 100 percent pro-choice.
 

 
Senator Bruce Braley (D-IA)

As a four-term Congressman, Braley has proven to be a consistent vote for women's issues.  He has earned a 100 percent pro-choice rating from NARAL and he stood up for women against the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision. He co-sponsored the "Not My Boss' Business" House bill to protect women from employers who want to deny employees contraceptive insurance coverage. He believes that women's health care choices are a private decision between women, their doctors and family.  "The debate is about whether politicians sitting in Congress should dictate the personal, private medical decisions of the American people," Braley said. He also co-sponsored the Women's Health Protection Act and he has worked to pass a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.  DONATE to Bruce Braley.  Women need a solid, pro-choice voice in the Senate.




  

 

An Evening with Alison Lundergan Grimes

Join the MadMitch Series Finale! 

September 23

Philadelphia, PA

For More Information, CLICK HERE

 

Call the JAC office for details on these and other upcoming events. 
847.433.5999

 

 


GROCERIES, NOT GUNS!
Send Kroger a message to keep their employees, customers, and their families 
safe from the threat of gun violence by 
prohibiting people from openly carrying 
weapons in their stores.


See who JAC met up with this week!
 
JAC member Bob Klutznick at at GOTV event for Senator Mark Udall in Denver. (l to r: Senator Michael Bennett (D-CO), Senator Mark Udall (D-CO),  Bob Klutznick, and Senator Ron Wyden (D-WA)


Former JAC President Betsy Sheerr with Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood
  
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Our members count on JACPAC to provide information on current events, candidates, and elections.  JACPAC depends on membership support to make this possible.

 

If you have not renewed your membership, please consider doing so today, to help us pursue a strong US-Israel relationship, reproductive rights, and separation of religion and state.  Together we can make this a better world!

   

Sincerely,

 
Janna Berk, President
Marcia Balonick, Executive Director
Joy Malkus, Research Director 




This week's issue highlights these key developments here and in the Middle East.
This week's EZ Read brings you these stories and some that may have slipped past your news feed.
Israel & The Middle East 
HAMASIsraeli Offical: Hamas Has Begun Repairing Gaza Tunnels

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4031477/islamic-cleric-in-gaza-rejects.htmlstorylink=cpy

Israel has received intelligence indicating that Hamas has begun reconstructing the attack tunnels that were destroyed during Operation Protective Edge, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday.

Read Full Article

  

IDF New Submarine
Watch a Video Tour of the IDF New Submarine

 

A Glimpse Into IDF's New Submarine

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4031477/islamic-cleric-in-gaza-rejects.htmlstorylink=cpy

While the "INS (Israel Navy Ship) Crocodile" makes its way to Israel, a new video reveals images of the submarine and its staff living under the water. "Significant improvements in this submarine allows it to stay under water for more than 20 days "A military source said about the new Dolphin class submarine.

 

Protesters Call on Minnesota to Divest from Israel 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4031477/islamic-cleric-in-gaza-rejects.htmlstorylink=cpy

The State has about $25 Million invested, but Gov. Mark Dayton tells demonstrators the 'case is closed'. Protestors called on Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton to divest state investment funds from Israel Bonds.

  

Back to School Edition: 5 Things College Students Should Know About Israel

As college students across the United States head off to campus, many may encounter heated discussion about the events that happened in Israel and Gaza over the summer. From late-night dorm room chatter and social media, to the lecture hall and quad, here are the five things every college student should know about Israel.

Read Full Article 

Anti-Semitism & BDS

GOVEGove Says Boycott of Israeli Goods is Sign of 'Resurgent Anti-Semitism
A range of feelings rippled throughout the Jewish community and its supporters in London last weekend; There was the jubilation that thousands of people were prepared to stand together in the face of rising anti-Semitism to show solidarity with Britain's 300,000 Jewish population. But then there was the disappointment this type of movement is still needed in our modern society. 

OU Students Protest 'blood bucket' Video, Are Arrested
An Ohio University student senate meeting erupted into chaos, and four students were arrested over protests of the senate meeting erupted into chaos, and four students were arrested over protests of the senate president's recent "blood bucket challenge" of Israel
Reproductive Rights

Missouri Lawmakers Just Enacted A 72-Hour Abortion Waiting Period with No Rape Exception

Missouri lawmakers voted to override their governor's veto of a 72-hour abortion waiting period on Wednesday night, ensuring that the stringent abortion restriction will become law in 30 days. Missouri becomes just the third state to force women to wait a full three days before being allowed to proceed with an abortion.

Jennifer Ann Whalen's attorney says that his client's "decision was poor." And for that choice, late last week, the 39-year-old Washingtonville, Pennsylvania, single mother and nursing home aide was sentenced to nine to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to her offense. Her crime? Obtaining abortion pills from Europe for her pregnant teenage daughter.



 Wendy Davis (Credit: AP/Eric Gay)


 

WendyWendy Davis' Choice: Why Speaking Out About Abortion Must Remain a Woman's Decision

Not all women can speak out about their abortions. But when they do, it's not our place to question their motives. In her new memoir, "Forgetting to Be Afraid," Texas state senator and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis reveals private information about her reproductive history, including two abortions she had. This is exactly what she should have done. Not because it might impact the polls heading into November's election or because people like me will write rallying think pieces in support of her decision - but because Davis decided that sharing her abortion stories was the right decision for her.




'Hobby Lobby' Aftermath: Illinois Seeks to Expand Birth Control Access

On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services proposed new regulations that could expand birth control access for low-income residents while requiring health providers that object to contraception to refer patients to providers that will provide contraceptive care.

Lawmaker Cites Hobby Lobby in Case To Ban Birth Control For Daughters
A Missouri State Lawmaker suing the Federal Government over Obamacare's Birth Control mandate says that the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision strengthens his case.

Don't Fall for Birth Control Plan that Would Push Women Back to the 1950s

Over the past few weeks, politicians who have taken a hard-line stance against insurance coverage for contraception are offering a new alternative: make birth control available over the counter. At first glance, this appears to be a welcome shift, a reflection of the growing support for making birth control available to more women.

  

Separation of Religion & State


Michael Ciaglo/Colorado Springs Gazette/MCT via Getty
SwearU.S. Airforce: Swear to God - Or Get Out
Two Tennessee state senators joined the conservative charge against the new framework for the AP U.S. History Exam last week, urging the state to review the new version of the test. Conservatives claim that the new framework for the exam leaves out key historical figures and events, such as the founding fathers and important military commanders.
Beyond the Core

These Women Are the NRA's Worst Nightmare

Today, Moms Demand Action has teams on the ground in all 50 states, elbowing their way into policy hearings and working to motivate "gun sense voters" fed up with the carnage. In less than two years, the organization has compelled more than a half-dozen national restaurant chains, internet companies, and retailers to take a stand against lax gun laws, and has joined forces with one of the nation's most deep-pocketed political operators to hold elected leaders to account. Many groups have taken on the nation's 30,000 annual firearm deaths-and this latest effort bears resemblance to the Million Mom March in the wake of the 1999 Columbine shooting, whose organizers also sought to be "a MADD for guns." But no group has risen so far, so fast, influencing laws, rattling major corporations, and provoking vicious responses from hardcore gun rights activists. With its ambition to turn out a million voters for the November midterms, Moms Demand Action may be emerging as a potent threat to the National Rifle Association's three-decade-long stranglehold on gun politics.

Read Full Article

 

Female Senators Send Goodell Letter, Express Domestic Violence Concerns

A group of 16 female Senators on Thursday sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in which the bipartisan group said it was "deeply concerned" about the league's new domestic violence policy that increased punishment for a first domestic violence offense to a six-game suspension.

 

Georgia State Senator Complains That Voting Is Too Convenient for Black People

One of Georgia's largest counties announced last week that it will allow early voting on a Sunday in late October and will open an early voting location in a shopping mall popular among local African-Americans. Concerned that this will lead to higher African-American voter turnout and hurt his party's dominance, one state lawmaker is speaking out and vowing to stop this easy voting for minority voters.

 

Political Byte


10 Reasons Young Women Absolutely Need to Vote in the Midterms

It's your chance to show people who see you as "Beyoncé voters" that you are a serious player in politics.

1. Young people and unmarried women typically don't vote in large numbers in the midterms, which means if we all did, we'd make a difference. According to a recent survey by Harvard, 23 percent of eligible voters ages 18 to 29 plan to vote in the midterm elections this November. This is consistent with the 2010 midterm election, when 23 percent of voters under 30 showed up to vote. Who is showing up to vote? Mitt Romney supporters. The Harvard study found that 44 percent of those who voted for Romney in 2012 planned to vote November 4, compared to 35 percent of those who voted for President Obama. Unmarried women helped Obama crush Romney in the 2012 election; in this demographic, he defeated Romney by 36 percentage points. This is proof that when we show up to vote, we make a difference.


 

Why the Battle for the Senate Matters

If Republicans take the Senate, it would be a further erosion of this President's leverage in his last two years. A more practical and overlooked area is judges. When Majority Leader Harry Reid changed the rules to require just a simple majority to fill lower court vacancies, this President has been able to fast track his nominees. If Republicans control the chamber, it will be much harder for this president to get them through.

Read Full Article

    

"Even One Case is Too Many": Vice President Biden Marks the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

Twenty years ago this week, President Clinton signed into law the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- a landmark law that empowered women and children to expose and prosecute domestic violence. The signing of the law marked the ed of an arduous road to pass the legislation and put our society on the path toward effectively combating such heinous abuses. Vice President Joe Biden, then a U.S. Senator, not only authored VAWA, but helped drive it through Congress and deliver it to the President's desk. 

Read Full Article 

FYI
The NFL's Domestic Violence Policy is Dangerous

The NFL continues to only talk about Ray and Janay Rice as a couple, with no indication that they understand the danger that she, as an individual, may now be in. It is well recognized by researchers and domestic violence advocates that the most dangerous time for victims of intimate partner violence is when they try to leave, which is something my mother knew instinctively. The most dangerous time for Janay Rice may be right now, as she is living with a man whose mindset may well be that his career has just been cut short because of his wife.
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Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a national network committed to the special relationship between the US and Israel and a social agenda that includes reproductive rights and separation of religion and state.  JACPAC supported US Senate and House candidates who uphold this agenda and maintains ongoing dialogue with those it helps elect.  In addition, JACPAC serves as a political resource for the Jewish community, furnishing information about candidates, elections and issues.

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