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Welcome to the "Let's Talk" Campaign!


"Dialogue is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength."
-Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), after returning from Syria.

Since the launch of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom’s "Let’s Talk" campaign, thousands of American Jews have called on the US Administration to make Arab-Israeli peacemaking a priority. And diplomatic progress has been made:

  • Secretary Rice has re-engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, beginning the kind of shuttle diplomacy long absent from the Bush Administration.
  • The Arab League unanimously endorsed the Saudi peace plan, offering Israel normal relations for a return to the ’67 borders.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a bi-partisan delegation of Representatives, traveled to Syria to discuss Israeli-Syrian peace.

We cannot let these opportunities fall by the wayside. Demand continued US diplomatic engagement to bring Israel together with all parties willing to discuss peace: the Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese, and the Arab League...

SIGN THE PETITION and make sure the US administration knows there is continued support for diplomacy in the American Jewish community.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE and educate and mobilize in your community to build further support for the campaign and change the conversation amongst American Jews on how to resolve the I-P conflict.

Be sure to check out the "Let’s Talk" FAQs, Answering the Difficult Questions, and the "Latest Word" below. You can also pledge to get more involved with the campaign:

For America’s sake. For Israel’s sake. Let’s Talk.


The Latest Word: Campaign-Related Resources and Updates

Playing the Hand We've Dealt, by Thomas Friedman

New York Times, 5/20/07


"If I thought that isolating Iran and Hamas was working, I'd continue it. But it manifestly is not -- any more than isolating Castro has worked. So either we find a way to draw them in or we'll be fighting them -- and the hard boys -- in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan for a long, long time."

Posted May. 29, 2007. Read more...

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Talk to Syria, by Dennis Ross

New Republic Online, May 7, 2007

Too often the Bush administration has treated "talking" as if it means conceding. But talks are not synonymous with surrender.

Posted May. 9, 2007. Read more...

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Rice on the Right Tracks

By David Ignatius, Washington Post
Friday, April 20, 2007

For the past few years, the United States has been in self-imposed diplomatic isolation in the Middle East. But two paths out of that wilderness are becoming visible, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is moving cautiously down each one.

Posted May. 7, 2007. Read more...

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The Abandonment by Aaron David Miller

How the Bush Administration Left Israelis and Palestinians to Their Fate

The Washington Post - Sunday, April 29, 2007

This is the tragedy of America's situation now in the Promised Land: Never has the Arab-Israeli issue been more critical to our national interests and to our security, yet rarely have we been so uniquely ill-positioned to manage it -- let alone resolve it. In a post-9/11 era, the cause of Palestine drives recruits to al-Qaeda and helps generate lethal levels of anti-Americanism. But for almost seven years, the Bush administration has hung a "Closed for the Season" sign on serious Arab-Israeli diplomacy.

Posted Apr. 30, 2007. Read more...

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