In 2019, Bend the Arc leaders, staff, and supporters like you took on antisemitism, ICE and CBP, Islamophobia, attacks on our democracy, and the growing threat of white nationalism.
We’re so grateful you joined with us this year. Whether you signed a petition, called or emailed your member of Congress, showed up to an action, or donated, you are a crucial part of what makes our movement possible. You are Bend the Arc.
As a Hanukkah present from all of us at Bend the Arc, here are just a few of our most memorable images from the past year. You can make a gift right now to create even more powerful moments of Jewish justice in 2020.
February
Resisting Trump’s unlawful national emergency
We began the year celebrating the most diverse House of Representatives ever — one you helped elect. We also began the year fighting the President’s attempts to build his racist wall, from the budget shutdown to his unlawful declaration of a national emergency. From coast to coast, we mobilized to stop his white nationalist agenda.
March
Showing what Jewish solidarity looks like
This March, the trial for the police officer who killed unarmed 17-year-old Antwon Rose II began. Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh leaders decorated trees outside the courthouse with purple roses to show support and love for the Rose family and protest anti-Black racism. The art was inspired by the Jewish stars that non-Jewish Pittsburghers put up all over Squirrel Hill in November in the wake of the Tree of Life shooting.
Guess who’s coming for Purim?
Purim is a holiday all about Jewish resistance to state oppression. This year, Bend the Arc leaders nationwide honored that tradition by calling on Congress to Defund Hate by cutting funding for ICE and CBP.
Our leaders in Champaign-Urbana, IL spent Purim with Senator Dick Durbin, sharing hamantashen, thanking him for his leadership in combating antisemitism and white nationalism, and urging him to keep showing up for immigrant justice.
All year long, leaders across the country pushed their members of Congress to take a stand against Trump’s rogue immigration agencies. And it's paying off — just this month, 75 Representatives voted against the latest budget for these agencies (way up from 19 earlier in the year).
April
Out of many voices, we rise as one
In April, our community was shaken by another violent antisemitic attack at the Chabad of Poway synagogue. Tragically, the shooter who murdered Lori Gilbert-Kaye (z”l) also claimed responsibility for arson at a nearby mosque.
In response, 100 Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Buddhist faith leaders shared a new prayer for America:
Listen, America.
Out of many voices,
We rise as one.
We mourn with one voice those lost.
We grieve the white nationalism that threatens us all.
June
Homes instead — shutting down Homestead
In June, Bend the Arc: South Florida leaders joined with immigrant, interfaith, and Jewish partners to demand the shutdown of Homestead — an overcrowded child detention facility where thousands of migrant children had been detained.
This powerful public pressure campaign gained national attention, leading Democratic presidential candidates to visit and call for its closure — and for Homestead to shutter its doors this year.
