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Anti-AIPAC Local Toolkit

Why should we refuse AIPAC? 

U.S. citizens across the country pay taxes, and we should have a say where and what is done with that money. More importantly, that our taxes aren’t spent on foreign militaries to commit a genocide. Pro-Israel interest groups such as AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) have influenced our members of Congress to fund their colonial project of Palestine and are using our taxes to pay for it. Members of Congress can be pressured by constituents, so it’s up to us and our neighbors in our district to tell our politicians to stop taking money from AIPAC and demand they answer to us, not AIPAC. A recent study shows that over half of the American population disapproved of the Israeli military’s actions in the Gaza Strip, which is a huge deal! At any point you can set up a call with Alexis from CODEPINK to talk through campaign plans, just email [email protected]. 

What you will need for the campaign: 

  • A Demand:
    For this campaign our demand is that your Representative or Senator signs     this pledge, to commit that they will stop taking campaign contributions from AIPAC. 
  • A group of friends & neighbors:
    This can’t be done without constituents demanding the member of Congress sign the pledge. Get ten friends/neighbors together to work on this with you. Chances are, they have friends who can join too! 
  • The support of CODEPINK:
    Maybe you don’t need us! But we are here to help. We can help you find people to work on your campaign with you. We can answer questions. We can help strategize! Also, we love talking to you. You can email Alexis at [email protected]    , she is doing this in her own district right now! 
  • Scroll down to grab additional resources, posters and flyers for your outreach

STEP 1: Does your local Congress member take money from AIPAC? 

See if your member of Congress takes campaign contributions from AIPAC or other Pro-Israel lobby groups in the first place. If yours does, proceed to step 2 to have your congressman sign the pledge! If they don’t take money from AIPAC already, ask them to sign the pledge to not take any future contributions from those lobby groups. Go to our politicians' page to find your Rep or Senators, or email [email protected],  as the website is a work in progress.

STEP 2: Organize a calling party & email local CODEPINK activists

Calling your representative can go a long way! Especially if you invite a few friends over, or host a calling party on Zoom! Here is a resource for how to host your own calling party! 

If you reach out to friends and family that live near you and they can’t make it, send them the script and ask them to make a few calls too! 

What’s great about organizing with CODEPINK is we have grassroots activists signed up to receive emails all over the country, so chances are we have supporters in your district. The day of your calling party, we can schedule an email to go out to our list asking people to call your Rep about the same thing! 

If your calling party is in person, make sure to wear pink and take pictures! Email to [email protected] 

Step 3: Engage on Social Media

You can do it at your calling party or set a date and time for a Twitter storm! Make sure you and your neighbors are tweeting at your Representative with your demands!

Here’s a sample tweet:

“As your constituent @(tag your rep), I am asking that you stop taking campaign contributions from AIPAC. Sign the pledge! 

Social Media Tips & Tricks

  • Set up a group chat with your organizing friends and neighbors
  • Send the links to the tweets you make about the campaign with your representative tagged
  • Like and retweet all tweets made by your team
  • Reply to the tweets made by your team

All these things will help you get visibility!

STEP 4: Set a deadline for a meeting!

While at your calling party, set a reasonable deadline for your representative to speak with you or take the pledge. What makes sense for you? In Illinois District Five we are giving our representative two weeks to reach out to us and doing calling days in between. 

STEP 5: If you get a meeting, prep with CODEPINK! 

You set up a meeting with your Rep’s office to talk about taking money from AIPAC? Want to be prepped on what to say and points to make? Feel free to reach out to us [email protected]. 

STEP 6: If you don’t get a meeting before your deadline passes, ESCALATE! 

Escalation can look like a lot of things. 

Here are some ideas:

  • Sidewalk chalk outside of the Rep’s office. How much money do they take from AIPAC? How have they voted on Pro-Israel and anti-Palestinians/BDS bills in the past? 
  • Canvass and get petition signatures
  • Go to a farmers market/march/protest to get petition signatures and canvass
  • Rally outside the office exposing the AIPAC profiteers 

Here is canvassing material for printing. The canvassing material is intended to be printed on regular printer paper with two flyers to a page, so make sure to cut the paper in half after it prints out! When canvassing ask people to scan the QR code with their phones or go to the link on the flyer, this will take them to the form they can fill out to contact their Representative about campaign contributions from AIPAC. 

STEP 7: Still no response? Set up a call with CODEPINK national organizer [email protected] to strategize and plan next steps. 

Representative's Pledge

Download Pledge

Posters

18 x 24 Poster  | 24 x 36 Poster

18 x 24 Poster  | 24 x 36 Poster

Flyers

Download Flyer

Download Color Flyer | Download B&W Flyer 

Additional Resources