Are you interested in AmIsPal? Do you want to get involved, or follow our activity and get in on the discussion? Great! AmIsPal strives for inclusiveness and wants to make it easy for you to stay informed and participate.
If you're new to AmIsPal, here's how to kick off your involvement:
1) Join our e-mail group. AmIsPal maintains a Google group that sends e-mails out to members periodically, and notifies them whenever a new issue brief is released or a new political action campaign begins. Being part of our e-mail conversation ensures that you will be more or less caught up on relevant news and information, and that you will know when any major initiatives are undertaken. We promise not to abuse your trust; we won't spam you, sell your e-mail address, or tell you about every single blog post or comment.
You can join the group by visiting it here.
2) Read and post to our blogs. AmIsPal is devoted to making it relatively easy for you to be able to keep up with Israeli/Palestinian politics and American foreign policy to speak intelligently and authoritatively on a range of related subjects. We will periodically release "issue briefs", or condensed synopses of relevant issues, that we hope will be helpful to anyone seeking a better understanding of the intricacies and various histories of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These issue briefs will be posted to our blogs for all to read and discuss; everyone will be notified by e-mail when an issue brief is released.
AmIsPal members will also post information summarizing and analyzing recent developments as they occur, or as the urge takes us. Visit our blog often; we'll update often with interesting new posts and content-rich, moderated, intelligent conversation. Everyone is welcome to provide their own insights and enrich our dialogue. All submissions will be reviewed by an AmIsPal moderator before posting to maintain the integrity of the site.
3) Write to your Senators and Representative. You can make sure that your voice is heard right off the bat by printing out a letter that outlines our position, signing it, and mailing it to your representatives to make sure they know how important this issue is to you. It's an inexpensive, effective way to guarantee that someone in a Congressional office processes your concerns; if we send enough of these letters, policymakers will understand our resolve to work towards peace. Remember, as a constituent of an elected official, you have the right to be heard and the power to affect change.
You can view a sample letter and print off your own copy once you join our Google Group by accessing the "Pages" section. All you have to do is print it, address it, sign it, and send it! AmIsPal will make sure everyone is informed by e-mail when new versions of this letter are written and should be sent to elected representatives as part of our advocacy efforts.
4) Get involved in the discussion on our Reddit. AmIsPal uses a unique tool called Reddit that allows users to submit news stories, articles, and other links for others to view and discuss. Users can vote on links and comments - upvotes make them appear closer to the top of the page and thus become more pivotal parts of our ongoing discussion, and downvotes push them further down the page, away from the spotlight. We think that, over time, the dialogue that emerges from your involvement on our Reddit will evolve to address the issues that are most important to you.
Our Reddit is also a great way for individual members to communicate with each other and express differing viewpoints - no opinions that are expressed on the AmIsPal Reddit will be attributed to the group as a whole. This way, you can say whatever you think, and fellow AmIsPal members can respond as they will. We value open and honest discourse, and we hope that you do too.
You can find the AmIsPal Reddit at http://www.reddit.com/r/amispal/.
We'll be updating frequently with more ways to get involved as our grassroots political action campaigns take form. Until then, spread the word! Let your friends know about your involvement, and link them here to read your blog posts and comments. As the community grows, so does our strength and ability to affect American policy.
Make sure to send us an e-mail if you have any comments or suggestions.
