Posts Categorized: NEWS & OPINIONS

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.

TheWorld Social Forum Free Palestine (WSFFP) took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, atexactly the moment that Palestine was on the front page of every newspaperaround the world. The United Nations had just voted (138-9) to grantPalestinians limited statehood observer status at the United Nations.  Meanwhile, people in Gaza had also justsurvived another brutal Israeli onslaught.

Despiteour grief and rage at the latest attack on Gaza, the perseverance of thePalestinian people continues to be an inspiration. As has been true for almosta century, Palestine and the Palestinian people are in the stranglehold of aglobal negotiation for power and resources. And now, popular movements anduprisings throughout the region threaten the colonial hold of US, Europe,Israel and its collaborators with struggles against repression and massexploitation of resources, land and people and for basic survival and freedom. InSyria, the death toll has risen to an estimated 40,000-57,000 over the pasttwo-years as people’s fights against repression are suffocated and infiltratedby the interests of these same forces.

The International Jewish Solidarity Network (IJSN) is a growing network of Jews whose identities are not based on Zionism but on long histories of Jewish participation in liberation struggles from Eastern Europe and Iraq to Brooklyn. IJSN’s participation in this conference reflects our commitment to these legacies and to our participation in current struggles against colonization and imperialism. Central to this commitment is solidarity with Arab liberation struggles against US imperialism and Zionism.