Giving Tuesday

There are plenty of considerations when deciding where to donate charitable dollars. For many people, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving has become Giving Tuesday. After Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday’s consumer-driven culture, Giving Tuesday offers the chance to direct our resources in a way that helps us give back and feel good. Each year, I have this conversation with my own family as we think about where our giving will have the greatest impact in an area that we care about.

Fortunately, for those of us concerned about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we have 16 organizations featured on our website that are doing incredible peacebuilding work. While Boston Partners for Peace is not intended to be a fundraising platform, this time of year is an opportunity to think about where peacebuilding fits into your philanthropic priorities. There are many issues that are deserving of your concern, your time, energy, and dollars, and building a brighter future for Israelis and Palestinians may be near the top of your list.

These organizations need your help. Earlier this summer, we detailed the cuts to US funding for Israeli-Palestinian co-existence programs. Many organizations are fighting to bridge this gap, and to raise the funds needed to provide services to Israelis and Palestinians looking to advance mutual recognition and co-existence.

For those who are unable to make financial contributions, you can make a change by making a phone call this holiday season. Call your Representative and Senators, and encourage them to support the Palestinian Partnership Fund Act to allocate funding to promote economic cooperation and social contact between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s time for us to show our elected representatives that we stand on the side of peace, and we want our government to put our dollars behind this effort.

As a reminder, we will be at Limmud Boston this Sunday, December 2, hosting a panel with five of our peacebuilding partner organizations. This is a great opportunity to support this critical work, and to hear what you can do to continue to support these organizations from Boston. We hope to see you there.