California Democrats did an exceptional job of standing up for Israel and the Jewish community standing, against antisemitic boycotts and attacks, as well as supporting Israel's right to exist as a secure, Jewish democratic state and supporting stronger language on Iran than in the 2020 Platform.

"Democrats for Israel applauds the Calfornia Democratic Party's passage of platform language that reiterates 2020 language supporting a Two State Solution with Israel as a Jewish Democratic State. The Middle East was the most touched-on topic during the public comment process with over 150 Democrats presenting testimony on this topic with 80% of the testimony supporting the 2020 language in some form. In addition, over 500 Californians signed a petition calling for support of the current platform language on Israel without a floor fight With this strong statement, anti-Israel activists found it nearly impossible to argue their position was a majority position, no attempts were made to bring changes to the floor.

The California Democratic Party heard those concerns and we applaud their support for the Jewish community, including making sure that the section on refugee rights, asylum and sovereign protections under Article 13 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights was crafted in a way that excluded the complexities of the Israel-Palestine situation until a peace treaty is concluded. Anti-Israel activists repeatedly argued that the proposed language was inadequate to address their position and the CDP Platform committee unanimously disagreed.

We also applaud additions that oppose attacks against groups of people based on their nationality, race or religion in response to the acts of a foreign government, (drafted in response to anti-Asian and antisemitic violence on the rise this country) and clarifications of the right to criticize (including boycotts) individuals or governments in a manner that perpetuates discrimination based on religion or race is not acceptable. This was a rebuke of the BDS movement, which seeks to target the Jewish community.

Finally, we support the plank calling for the appointment of an international Islamophobia monitor, backing legislation supported by a large number of Jewish legislators.

DFI-CA wishes to thank all the Democrats who stepped forward to ensure that they heard the concerns of the community, including our five Jewish Democratic Clubs (Democrats for Israel Los Angeles, Democrats for Israel Orange County, Democrats for Peace in the Middle East (San Diego), Jewish Democratic Club of Silicon Valley and Jewish Democrats of Greater Sacramento), Progressive Zionists of Calfornia, the Israel Campus Coalition.

DFI-CA is especially appreciative of the leadership and resources of Democratic Majority for Israel, the California Jewish Legislative Caucus and the California Democratic Congressional delegation that were critical to ensuring our voices were heard.

PLATFORM LANGUAGE PASSED MARCH 6, 2022

INTERNET AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

• [N]o collective group of persons in the United States, regardless of their nationality, religion, race or ethnicity should be attacked, vilified or held responsible for the acts of a foreign government.

Support the right of individuals to criticize persons, corporations or government, but not for reasons of racial, religious, ethnic, gender identity, or sexual orientation discrimination;

WORLD PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:

• Proactively seek durable peace in the Middle East, including ending support for the Saudi-United Arab Emirates aggression in Yemen, opposing Turkish repression and aggression against Kurdish civilians in Northern Syria which has undermined years of cooperative security work to stop ISIS and Syrian from terrorizing innocent citizens and rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015 Iran nuclear agreement) with the ultimate goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or a mechanism for delivery of nuclear weapons, and discourage the further proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region, encourage democratic forces in Iran, and strive to restore normal U.S.-Iran relations;

• Continue to work toward a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict directly negotiated by the parties that guarantees equality, security and democracy for all; recognizes Israel’s future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders; and, provides Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity;

• Support efforts among representatives of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank to de-escalate tensions through good faith negotiations that recognize Israel’s future as a sovereign, secure, and democratic Jewish state and that can lead to security and independence for Palestinians.

• Recognize that Israelis and Palestinians deserve security, recognition, and a normal life free from terror and incitement and respectively should be free to govern themselves, each in their own viable states in peace and dignity;

• Continue to support an end to the teaching and use of antisemitism and Islamophobia in discourse throughout the Middle East and beyond;

• Support pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 13, the right of individuals to leave and return to their own country consistent with negotiated treaties and pursuant to Article 14, the right to seek asylum and be free from persecution;

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