This Sunday, one of the truly sage voices in American politics, and a PDA ally from our founding, James Zogby will join our Town Hall to share his reflections on, and understanding of, the horrible events ongoing in Israel and Palestine, and the role played by U.S. policy.

James Zogby is the co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute, a public opinion researcher, political commentator, and author of many books, including the classic Palestinians: The Invisible Victims (last updated in 2018), exploring the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from the Palestinian point of view.

A veteran of the Jesse Jackson campaigns in the 1980s, just like PDA founders Tim Carpenter and Steve Cobble, Zogby has been a lifelong progressive. Few on the left have played the inside/outside game as well as Zogby, who was appointed to official positions and exerted influence, inside both the Clinton and Obama administrations, even as he remained a staunch critic of U.S. policy. As a member of the Executive Committee of the DNC from 2001 to 2017, Jim frequently partnered with PDA as we campaigned to reform the Party’s rules and structures.

Please invite all of your friends, family, co-workers, and social media acquaintances to hear Jim speak about Israel/Palestine at our Town Hall this Sunday. Too often, progressives throw up their hands in defeat, not seeing how peace and justice are even possible in the Levant. Even in this darkest hour, they’ll feel differently after hearing Jim Zogby.

Also, in the 2nd hour of this special Town Hall, we’ll be joined by Chuck Pennacchio, founder and President of OnePayerStates, on the occasion of Rep. Ro Khanna reintroducing legislation clearing a pathway for universal single-payer healthcare to become a reality in any individual state (such as California, Oregon, Michigan, or 47 others). Khanna’s bill is called the “State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 2023” (aka SBUHCA), and PDA will be asking every member of Congress to co-sponsor SBUHCA.  

Let’s be honest. We need Medicare for All right now, but that won’t happen until we have an advocate in the White House (and that looks unlikely anytime before 2029)—but it’s a different story in a number of states! As Chuck will explain, supporting SBUHCA is a great way to keep building momentum for real healthcare justice in America!

See you this Sunday! RSVP Now!

In solidarity,

Alan Minsky for the PDA National Team