http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/10/29/sper-hosts-national-palestinian-conference/ By Sam Kurland October 29th, 2013 This past weekend, Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER) hosted nearly 300 college students from more than 70 campuses across the country to express solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement. The third annual conference was organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a national student… Read more »


Posts Categorized: NEWS & OPINIONS
Interview with Liliana Córdova Kaczerginski
Category: NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,Founding member of the International JewishAnti-Zionist Network. A daughter of survivors of World War II, she hasbecome engaged in an intense fight, on the theoretical and the practical level,to reveal the true colonial and exclusivist nature of the Zionist project ofthe State of Israel.
Zionism,Judaism, Israel… these are concepts that often get mixed up. Why is this?
These ideas are not easy to understand since theZionist project was conceived and implemented by Jewish people. Zionism is apolitical doctrine, and Judaism is a religion, a culture, and an identity.Like many doctrines, Zionism pretends to be the only ideology of Jewish people,claiming to represent all Jews. What’s more, once the State of Israel wasdeclared, the authorities there began to use these words and ideasinterchangeably. For example, they speak in the name of all Jewish people inthe world when the Government of Israel is elected by Israeli citizens. TheJewish community outside of Israel is much larger and does not participate inIsraeli elections. Speaking on behalf of all Jews like this manifests itselfeverywhere; Israel also emphasizes an ethnic link to the ancient Hebrews, whichis without scientific basis (as proven by historians and archaeologists), andis advancing a vernacular history that leads all the way back to the OldTestament in an effort to provide historical legitimacy to the Zionist project.
Haaretz: Palestinians and Canadian Natives Join Hands to Protest Colonization
Category: NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,Palestinians, both at home and abroad, have found an unlikely partner in the struggle against colonization: First Nations, the indigenous peoples of Canada. By Hadani Ditmars Native peoples from all over the world joined together on Monday as part of an international day of solidarity with Idle No More, an indigenous uprising that has supporters… Read more »
Aljazeera Opinion Page: Death By ‘Security’
Category: Israel's Worldwide Role in Repression, NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,The country has supported repressive governments in the region to suppress indigenous movements and uprisings.
By Belen Fernandez
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/07/20137717429632532.html
Governor Brown Should Not Use the Holocaust to Hide Racism
Category: Never Again for Anyone, NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,AsCalifornia prisoners’ massive hunger strike against long-term solitaryconfinement, group punishment, and other cruel and inhuman policies of the CDCR(California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) enters its second week,Governor Jerry Brown is on a two-week vacation to Germanyand Ireland. To add insult to injury, itincludes a visit to the Dachau concentration camp.
It isshocking for the Governor to have chosen this time to go on vacation while the CDCRrefuses to meet the hunger strikers’ five just demands that would end the torture ofprisoners in the state he is supposed to be responsible for governing. The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Networkis outraged that Brown dares to exploit theNazi genocide to distract from his complicity in the repression and racism againstprisoners, disproportionately people of color and low income people, women andtransgender people, in order to make money for the lucrative prison industry inCalifornia.
Pleasetake a moment to sign the Pledge of Resistance to stand with Californiaprisoners on hunger strike!
Jadaliyya: Debunking the Myth of the Zionist Left
Category: NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,url: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12243/debunking-the-myth-of-the-zionist-left Tikva Honig-Parnass, False Prophets of Peace: Liberal Zionism and the Struggle for Palestine. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2011. Aharon Cohen, a senior member of MAPAM, the Israeli United Workers Party, observed in 1948 that “a state based on national enmity and the rule of one people over another will certainly breed chauvinism and reaction in… Read more »
Thank You Stephen Hawking
Category: Backlash Defense, NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,Dear Prof. Stephen Hawking,
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) thanks you for taking the principled course of action: publicly refusing to participatein Israel’s presidential conference, chaired by the notorious war criminal Shimon Peres. Our own recent history as Jews vividly presents to us the culpable role of those who merely stay silent in the face of state-organized racism and violence.
We further commend your decision to publicize the reasons for your withdrawal in a form that conveys your understanding that the primary obligation of people of conscience everywhere is to listen to Palestinians who suffer Israel’s oppression and act in solidarity based on their analysis and demands. Your actions set an example for conscientious engagement as a scientist and as a public figure. We hope that your example will inform and in turn move more scientists, intellectuals, and artists to action.
As with others who followed the same course, in the coming days many powerful people will subject you to a barrage of abuse. The primary purpose of this barrage is to frighten others who might want to emulate you but do not feel as confident in their ability to withstand the public attempts of character assassination. We therefore also write to you to encourage others. While those who appreciate what you did donot hold high office nor own newspapers and TV channels, we are the majority of humanity and we deeply appreciate you.
Sincerely,
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Stop the Criminalization of the Black Liberation Movement
Category: Backlash Defense, NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,IJAN joins with theNational Lawyers Guild, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and National Conferenceof Black Lawyers in rejecting the U.S. government’sattempt to smear Assata Shakur as a "terrorist." The outrageous FBI designationof Shakur as a "most wanted terrorist" further lays bare the blatantpoliticization of the term.
Statement in support of Professor Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur
Category: Backlash Defense, NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,We jointhe National Lawyers Guild in expressing support for the UN Special Rapporteur,Richard Falk, in his statement on the need for the U.S. to examine its foreignpolicy.
Dr. Falk,in an editorial in Foreign Policy Journal titled "A Commentary on the Marathon Murders," appealedfor the U.S. to be self-critical and examine the effects of "irresponsible andunlawful warfare [as the] centerpiece of American foreign policy." He listssome of the more egregious actions of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,including Abu Ghraib, drone attacks, torture, and rendition and says: "TheAmerican global domination project is bound to generate all kinds of resistancein the post-colonial world. In some respects, the United States has beenfortunate not to experience worse blowbacks…" Dr. Falk continues the essay withdiscussion of Barack Obama’s abandonment of the Palestinians and anyinvolvement in bringing about a just peace. Obama’s recent visit to Israel,says Falk, was a "love letter to the Israeli public" and "obsequious diplomacy"rather than a serious attempt at achieving justice.
Hugo Chavez: President of the poor and ally to all the oppressed has died
Category: NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,It was withgreat sadness that we received the news of the passing of President Hugo Chávezof Venezuela. As citizens of the world, wecontinue to draw hope and inspiration from the Bolivarian Revolution.It is a point of reference in the global resistance to the suffering imposed bygovernments, corporations and ruling classes – beginning with those of theUnited States and its massive military.
In theclosing days of 2012, three members of IJAN had the privilege of visiting theBolivarian Republic. They witnessed a peopleengaged in building a more just society and standing up to imperial domination. They saw the coming to fruition of a projectof building nearly one thousandapartments for victims of natural disasters.This was in sharp contrast to the US experience in the aftermath ofHurricanes Sandy and Katrina, when the government left the victims to fend forthemselves, and treated as criminals those trying to escape the floods, even shooting refugees dead.