This year marks 78 years since the Nakba, the mass displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948 that created one of the largest and longest-standing refugee crises in modern history. For 78 years, Palestinians have endured dispossession, military occupation, siege, exile, imprisonment, genocide, and apartheid, while the world’s most powerful governments continue to enable it.

This October will also mark three years since Israel escalated its genocidal assault on Gaza. Three years of relentless bombardment, engineered starvation, mass displacement, and the systematic destruction of civilian life, all carried out with political backing, military funding, and diplomatic protection from the United States.

That is why this year’s Palestine Advocacy Days, taking place September 20–22 in Washington, D.C., comes at such a critical moment.

Over the last several years, we have witnessed a dramatic shift in public consciousness around Palestine. Millions more people are speaking openly about Palestinian liberation, questioning U.S. foreign policy, and rejecting the idea that Israel should remain above accountability. What was once pushed to the margins is now part of mainstream political discourse.

And that shift is beginning to crack the political status quo. Recently, a record-breaking 40 U.S. senators voted in support of blocking weapons transfers to Israel, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. While the fight is far from over, moments like these are proof that sustained organizing, advocacy, and public pressure are moving the conversation and creating real political consequences.

At the same time, we are witnessing growing authoritarianism, attacks on dissent, and the erosion of civil rights here in the United States. From Palestine to our own communities, the fight against state violence, repression, and unchecked power is deeply interconnected.

Palestine Advocacy Days is about transforming public momentum into political pressure. It is about building collective power, demanding accountability from elected officials, and pushing for tangible policy changes that end U.S. complicity in the violence against Palestinians.