How To Pressure Your
Elected Officials
Take action to pressure your elected officials, from City Council to Congress.
First, Email Congress: Block Bombs for Genocide!
Two million Palestinian people trapped in Gaza are living through U.S.-funded genocide in real time, as Israel bombs, starves, and displaces them. Email your representative now to demand they stop arming Israel and block the deadly U.S.-Israel military integration in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Local to National: Why We Must Escalate to Divestment
Divestment is a key strategy because it’s tangible: It moves dollars away from weapons companies and complicit corporations that fuel genocide, making the war machine increasingly less profitable. USCPR Action’s City Council Organizing Toolkit has everything you need to pressure your city/town to materially divest from genocide, with our training and support.
Use this guide to organize for divestment at your local city/town council. Demand that your city withdraws investments from corporations complicit in genocide and apartheid.
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VRS Divest campaign in Virginia
“Our Taxes, Our Needs” campaign in Palm Beach County, Florida
How To Pressure Politicians from City Council to Congress
When we chant “no justice, no peace,” we affirm its promise that we will not rest while the politicians in power arm genocide and dispossession. In that spirit, make Palestine unavoidable for your elected officials. Here are the most common ways people have won campaigns to pressure elected officials.
1. Join the Stop the Deadly Merger phonebanks (or host your own)
Stop the deadly U.S.-Israel military merger! Congress is considering merging the U.S. military system with Israel’s to produce deadly weapons and surveillance technology together. This Deadly Merger is buried inside the annual military spending bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).¹
We have a small window to block it, which is why we’re phonebanking every week, calling up supportive constituents to patch them through to key members of Congress. These are some of the easiest calls you can make, chatting directly with supporters of DSA, USCPR Action, and Adalah Justice Project.
No experience required—RSVP now to join us! Whether it’s your faith-based group, your family, or your favorite Discord server, invite your community to phonebank with you. You can send them this signup link, or organize a power hour in your community to make calls and write letters together.
2. Schedule an advocacy meeting.
Schedule a meeting with your elected official or their staff to voice your demands. Force them to answer for the endless documentation of U.S. participation in genocide.
Look up their legislative record and how much money they receive from anti-Palestinian groups using the USCPR Action Congress Scorecard. In particular, check if your House representative has already signed on to the Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565) and demand they cosponsor if they haven’t yet.
Urge your members of Congress to block the NDAA due to its massive war budget and deadly U.S.-Israel military integration section. Bring this “Vote No on the NDAA” policy brief with you to your advocacy meeting.
3. Protest your elected officials.
The history of social justice movements has given us a legacy of creative ways to capture our elected officials’ attention. Mobilize your community to show up in numbers and remind your elected officials who they represent. In the past three years, activists have held demonstrations such as:
Sit-in at an elected official’s office
Loud “wake up call” noise demonstration at their house
Car caravan or other transportation disruption
And more…
(Make sure to check local laws, which may vary, and plan for safety.)
4. Birddog & disrupt politicians.
There will be NO REST for politicians who fund and enable genocide. Blood is on the hands of every elected official who has voted to arm Israel.
Turn up the heat now. Birddog politicians so that they can’t be seen in public without being confronted about their choice to fund killing over care for constituents’ basic human needs. Find out where your elected official will be, and approach them with your questions and demands. Disrupt events such as local town halls and speaking engagements with a group of trusted friends. Bring a camera and record their reactions. Spread the word and make the confrontation go viral. Find sample questions and more ideas in this guide.
Town hall disruption in Lisle, Illinois. Video by Palestine Activism Collective.
5. Organize Block the Bombs letter-writing gatherings.
It can be far too easy for compromised elected officials or their staff to filter out emails that refer to Palestine. Writing a letter ensures a human being opens it and reads it. A sudden flurry of multiple letters demands attention.
Gather in community to write Not My Tax Dollars letters to your representative and senators. Demand they block the NDAA and support the Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565). You can start by spending ten minutes before family dinner writing letters together. To go bigger, organize a letter-writing event in your local community to generate even more.
While most of us witness the genocide from our screens, we must make every effort to get off screens, collectively process this ongoing violence, and make Gaza unavoidable. Find printable letters and all the resources you’ll need in your Not My Tax Dollars activist toolbox.
Divestment Spotlight: Break Israel Bonds
Israel bonds are unrestricted loans issued directly to the Israeli government, including the military, to use however it wishes. When a city, county, state, or institution purchases Israel bonds, they are lending money to the Israeli government, which then repays the bondholder with interest over time. These bonds are a crucial pillar upholding Israel's genocide economy. Look up your location on Tech for Palestine’s Israel Bonds Tracker to find out if your local government holds Israel bonds or to file a FOIA request for information. And when you get new information, share it with Tech for Palestine to boost national awareness.
In a stunning string of victories, North Carolina, Minnesota, Michigan, and several Ohio counties have all divested from Israel bonds thanks to local organizing campaigns building the pressure. Read more about how to break Israel bonds.
At $1 billion, the largest investor of Israel bonds in the world is Palm Beach County, Florida. The Internationalist Law Center is organizing the “Our Taxes, Our Needs” campaign to organize the community in opposition, turning out over 100 community members to the last hearing. Wherever you’re located, you can take action with this campaign, such as by joining a virtual phonebank or signing up to give public comment. Find all the action steps in the Internationalist Law Center’s linktree.
“You are witnessing … an absolute assault on democracy in Palm Beach County in defense of Israel, against all of their constituents standing in the room who oppose genocide and against the slaughter of children.”
- Human rights attorney Noura Erakat, who was recently arrested at a Palm Beach County hearing for Israel bonds in an attempt to repress Palestinian speech
More Ways to Take Action
Go to USCPR’s Stop Gaza Genocide toolkit.
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