Brit Tzedek v'Shalom/Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace Records
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains the records of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom/Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, from 2002-2012. Materials in the collection consist of correspondence, clippings and opinion pieces written by members of the organization, articles about peace solutions in Israel and Palestine, petitions and other campaign materials, recordings of conferences and other events, board member resource guides and election documents, member rolls, conference and training institute materials, chapter reports, events, photographs, and membership documents. Materials in the collection focus on Brit Tzedek's attempts to lobby legislators and other political leaders to work toward a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine and remove settlers out of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, as well as their trainings for students, rabbis, and other grassroots organizers and chapter activists to run successful campaigns and build membership.
Dates
- 2002-2012
Language of Materials
The collection is in English.
Access Restrictions
[If you have any exceptions to the AJHS-approved access restrictions text, use the "alt_note" code in the accessrestrict element {see preceding code} to override the stylesheet. Example text: "The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility and one folder (Box X, Folder X, "Folder Title") restricted due to privacy concerns."]
Use Restrictions
Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:
American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY, 10011
email: reference@ajhs.org
Historical Note <extptr actuate="onload" altrender="We've Got Your Back, Mr. President: A Pledge to Support for President Obama's Pursuit of Israeli Palestinian Peace Postcard, 2008 (Box 10, Folder 13)" href="http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=4355236" show="embed" title="We've Got Your Back, Mr. President: A Pledge to Support for President Obama's Pursuit of Israeli Palestinian Peace Postcard, 2008 (Box 10, Folder 13)"/>
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, was founded in 2002 in response to the Second Intifada. The organization was an American membership organization of American Jews committed to negotiating a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They supported an end to Israeli military occupation of territories in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem; the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders; establishment of Jerusalem as the capital of both states; a resolution to the Palestinian refugee problem; an end to terrorism and state-initiated violence; and an evacuation of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. The organization aimed to achieve these goals through building a constituent base, garnering media coverage, changing the discourse about Israeli-Palestinian peace, informing the American Jewish community, and through national campaigns that advocated a negotiated two-state solution.
At its peak, Brit Tzedek had a network of approximately 50,000 supporters and 38 chapters across the United States. In 2003, they organized their first national campaign, "A Call to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel," which petitioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President George W. Bush to redirect financial incentives to settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip willing to return to Israel. The petition had 10,000 signers. They also launched their "Spirit of Geneva" campaign in 2003, which sought to negotiate a two-state solution based upon the Geneva Accord. In 2006, they established the National Rabbinic Cabinet, which sought to organize rabbis, seminary students, and other Jewish clergy members in Brit Tzedek activism. In 2007, they organized a 22 city tour of Combatants for Peace, which brought together Israeli and Palestinian former combatants to work for peace through dialogue. Among its accomplishments, Brit Tzedek helped secure 36 cosponsors in the Senate for the 2007 Feinstein/Lugar resolution, which called for active U.S. engagement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and 135 House signers to the Ackerman-Boustany letter to Secretary Condoleezza Rice to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In 2008, Brit Tzedek focused on its "Time to Choose" campaign, which was directed toward the 2008 presidential candidates to put peace talks on the presidential agenda. In 2010, Brit Tzedek merged with J Street.
Extent
6.75 Linear Feet (12 manuscript boxes and 1 record carton)
Abstract
This collection contains the records of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, which was an American membership organization of American Jews committed to negotiating a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The materials in the collection consist of administrative documents; board member resources; resource guides for activists, clergy members, and chapter members; conference proceedings and recordings; campaign petitions; and other materials.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into four series:
Physical Location
Located in AJHS New York, NY
Acquisition Information
This collection was donated to AJHS in 2013 by Aliza Becker. The accession number associated with this collection is 2013.016.
Separated Material
CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and other audiovisual materials found within the records have been removed to AJHS’s audiovisual collection but are represented in the finding aid.
Processing Information
In 2016, materials were refoldered and rehoused in acid-free folders and boxes. Documents have been taken out of binders and plastic sleeves. Original folder titles were retained when possible. Duplicates and materials containing credit card numbers were discarded.
CDs in the collection containing image, audio, and document files were ingested into the Center's digital asset manager and access was provided to these files. Links to this material is provided in the container list. CDs with complex file types and complex file structures and DVDs with video files were imaged using FTK (Forensic Toolkit) and stored in the secure server. Derivatives of video files can be created on request.
- Al-Aqsa Intifada, 2000-
- Arab-Israeli conflict
- Arab-Israeli conflict -- Peace
- Balser, Diane
- Becker, Aliza, 1958-
- Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (Organization : Chicago, Ill.)
- Circular letters
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Compact discs
- Conferences
- DVDs
- Freedman, Marcia, 1938-
- J Street (Organization)
- Jews -- United States -- Attitudes toward Israel
- Peace movements -- United States
- Petitions
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Israel
- VHS
- Title
- Guide to the Brit Tzedek v'Shalom/Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace Records 2002-2012 I-587
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Nicole Greenhouse
- Date
- © 2016
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository