In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Nakba and the eighth anniversary of the second intifada which inspired a stronger solidarity movement and growing criticism of Israel...
Over the Jewish High Holidays - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - which are a time for reflection and atonement for the individual and collective injustices we have committed or have allowed to happen...
And with hope for a year of greater possibility for justice in Palestine, the broader region and our world...
We launch the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network - IJAN (formally known as IJSN - the International Jewish Solidarity Network) - with the release of our founding charter and call for a Month of Action - "Boycott Zionism - Divest from Israel" and invite you to partner and participate with us.
In this Newsletter:
IJAN Charter
Month of Action
New Website and Resources
Finding a Symbolic Name and Logo
Developing our Structure
Get Involved
Charter of the International Jewish anti-Zionist Network
We are an international network of Jews who are uncompromisingly committed to struggles for human emancipation, of which the liberation of the Palestinian people and land is an indispensable part. Our commitment is to the dismantling of Israeli apartheid, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the ending of the Israeli colonization of historic Palestine.
From Poland to Iraq, from Argentina to South Africa, from Brooklyn to Mississippi, Jews have taken up their quest for justice, and their desire for a more just world, by joining with others in collective struggles. Jews participated prominently in the workers' struggle of the depression era, in the civil rights movement, in the struggle against South African Apartheid, in the struggle against fascism in Europe, and in many other movements for social and political change. The State of Israel's historic and ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their land contradicts and betrays these long histories of Jewish participation in collective liberation struggles.
Zionism—the founding and current ideology that manifested in the State of Israel—took root in the era of European colonialism and was spread in the aftermath of the Nazi genocide. Zionism has been nourished by the most violent and oppressive histories of the nineteenth Century, at the expense of the many strains of Jewish commitment to liberation. To reclaim them, and a place in the vibrant popular movements of our time, Zionism, in all its forms, must be stopped.
This is crucial, first and foremost, because of Zionism's impact on the people of Palestine and the broader region. It also dishonors the persecution and genocide of European Jews by using their memory to justify and perpetuate European racism and colonialism. It is responsible for the extensive displacement and alienation of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of African and Asian descent) from their diverse histories, languages, traditions and cultures. Mizrahi Jews have a history in this region of over 2,000 years. As Zionism took root, these Jewish histories were forced from their own course in service of the segregation of Jews imposed by the State of Israel.
As such, Zionism implicates us in the oppression of the Palestinian people and in the debasement of our own heritages, struggles for justice and alliances with our fellow human beings.
Click here to continue to read: http://www.ijsn.net/about_us/charter/
Join us in a Month of Action from 1 - 31 October: "Confront Zionism - Divest from Israel"
Confront Zionism: Support the Palestinian call for boycotting Zionist and Israeli cultural, educational, sporting and political events and the academic boycott. Confront Zionist organizations that support Israeli Apartheid, censor and target individuals and organizations for criticism of Israel, and collaborate in US-European Islamophobia. Expose Jewish organizations that confuse support of Israel with defense of Jews and disguise economic and political support for Israel and Zionism as Jewish cultural and community work.
Divest from Israel: Support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israelthrough actions that target Israeli goods.
Put the Charter out into the World: Use the founding Charter as an opportunity to voice and bring visibility to anti-Zionist politics through educational, cultural and spiritual events and creative action.
Click here for the full details of the Launch Campaign: http://www.ijsn.net/117/
Check out our new website and resources for study, reflection and action!
Visit our new website at www.ijsn.net
Check out the following new resources posted on the site:
New study group curriculum: http://www.ijsn.net/C9/
"Boycott Zionism - Divest from Israel" stickers: http://www.ijsn.net/C58/
Finding a symbolic name and logo
In the coming months we will be searching for a symbolic name and logo for the network. Click here to participate in brainstorming the name and logo: http://www.ijsn.net/224/
Help us develop a new structure
Toward preparing for broader participation in the network, IJSN is developing a representative structure for coordination, consultation and communication across and between local, regional and international organizing.
Over the next year we hope to evolve and practice this representative structure to support and increase the connections across local and regional self-organizing, while continuing to grow our capacity for internationally coordinated actions and campaigns (initiated at any level of the network).
We need your help as we figure out how to do this. http://www.ijsn.net/about_us/structure/
Join our Call-to-Action...
Our pledge in the Charter will be carried out through our commitments to: 1) solidarity with Palestinian self-determination, 2) participation in global movements to end imperialism, and 3) the extrication of Jewish history, politics, community, and culture from the grip of Zionism.
To these ends, in this historical moment, IJAN will be a clear anti-Zionist Jewish point of reference to set an ideological pole, open space for non-Jewish anti-Zionist voices, and broaden support for Palestinian liberation.
Towards fulfilling this strategic role, we are calling anti-Zionist Jews to take up the following actions in the world:
- Confront Zionism: Support the Palestinian call for boycotting Zionist and Israeli cultural, educational, sporting and political events and academia. Confront Zionist organizations that support Israeli apartheid, that censor and target individuals and organizations for criticism of Israel, and that collaborate in US, Canadian, European Islamophobia.
- Participation in existing Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) campaigns: Rather than lead BDS efforts, IJAN encourages and supports participation of its members in local, national and international campaigns as well as participation in the consumer boycott of Israeli goods-make your boycott known to merchants who sell Israeli goods. Read more about the call: http://www.ijsn.net/199/
- Popular Tribunals: Join the network in organizing popular tribunals that gather testimony that exposes the tactics of and demand accountability from Zionist institutions. The testimony would largely come from Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim people and Jews most impacted by this intersection of Zionism and US/European imperialism. The targets may include one large international Zionist institution as well as its local and national Zionist affiliates. Read more about the popular tribunals: http://www.ijsn.net/193/
- Cross-movement building: Broaden support for the Palestinian struggle by bringing your anti-Zionist politic the movements you participate in for racial, economic and gender justice. Make it untenable for progressive to radical social justice organizations to not take a stand on Israel or exclude Palestinian liberation from their politics and solidarity work.
- Supporting joint struggle between Jews of Arab, African and Asian descent and Palestinians: Challenge the role of white anti-Zionist Jewish activists and activism in undermining alliances between Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians. Actively support the building of joint Mizrahi-Palestinian struggles against Zionist colonialism and racism. Read more about Mizrahi organizing: http://www.ijsn.net/C42/
- Consciousness Raising: Organize events, create tools and materials, engage in creative action, and produce art and cultural work that brings anti-Zionist politics to the public.
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