March 16, 2020
Dear friend,
As each of us deals with the Coronavirus personally, it also provides an opportunity for us to gain some perspective on humanity globally. While the pandemic is forcing us to keep apart physically, we hope and believe that it will ultimately bring us together as a global, human society that does not discriminate between Jews and Arabs, between Israelis and Palestinians, or between other groups in conflict.
With that in mind, I wanted to take a moment to update you about Partners for Progressive Israel’s operations and activities during the upcoming period as we—like so many others—are socially distancing ourselves to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19.
Our staff will be working from home, coming to the office only occasionally to receive and process postal mail. The best way to contact our office will therefore be by email (info@progressiveisrael.org) or via the contact form on our website. We’ll do our best to respond to phone messages, but can’t guarantee as rapid a response. We thank you for your understanding.
We will continue bringing you timely updates from Israel on society and politics amid the pandemic. We encourage you to follow our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will also be continuing our existing online programs, the Kolot: Voices of Hope series of profiles, the Conversations with Israel and Palestine webinar series, and the Israel Horizons e-zine, with appropriate adjustments to reflect the altered reality. Stay tuned for our e-blasts with news and commentary!
By the way—if you weren’t able to tune in last Thursday to our live webinar on “What Now for the Israeli Left Following Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century,’” we’ll have a recording on our webinar portal by tomorrow (March 17), where you can view our past webinars as well.
All plans for in-person events have been indefinitely suspended and we will heed the advice of the appropriate medical authorities in this matter before any resumption. However we’re still looking forward to our annual Israel Symposium study tour this fall. Please email us for additional details.
We also hope to update you as soon as possible regarding the final results of the World Zionist Congress elections in the United States, which ended on March 11. This has been our major focus since January, and we are hoping our HATIKVAH slate did well. Our warmest thanks go out to everyone who cast a vote: You helped to more than double the turnout, with 120,566 online voters in the current elections, with more to come in paper ballots—compared to a total of 56,737 in 2015. Once paper ballots are counted and added to the online vote totals, and the process is certified, we’ll share the official results. While we originally expected to do so by the end of the month, it is possible that COVID-19 will cause this date to be pushed back.
Knowing that you support us gives us the strength to continue our work at this challenging time. Please feel free to reach out to us with suggestions and ideas as to how we can best serve you and our shared goals at this trying time.
COVID-19 is a trenchant reminder that we are all interconnected, that our future is the opposite of a zero-sum game, and that solutions are viable only when they acknowledge the shared humanity of all.
With best wishes for health and minimal disruption during the challenging period ahead,
Paul Scham
President
Partners for Progressive Israel
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