Click Here to Sign the Change.Org Petition Petition Language: “Accusations of antisemitism, which have been leveled at the National Women’s March since its beginning in 2017, are now fracturing the movement. As anti-racist Jewish women and queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people who have participated in Women’s March activities, we’re deeply concerned about allowing a… Read more »
In late 2015, as we assessed the state of IJAN, we determined that building our projects and better supporting our partners would require growing our membership. We entered 2016 with a commitment to seed new chapters and increase our outreach through a national tour, open meetings, study groups, community rituals and more. Throughout the year, we… Read more »
We are excited to invite you to another presentation on IJAN’s 2016 national tour. On Thursday, April 21st, David Langstaff, a long-time IJAN organizer, will be presenting on Jewish Anti-zionism and Joint Struggle Against Racism and Colonialism at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The event, sponsored by IJAN, JVP and Students Allied for Freedom and… Read more »
Through the ongoing colonization of Palestine, the United States and Israel have developed expertise in repression. Movements for social and environmental justice need to address the ways the Israeli government and U.S. Zionist foundations perpetrate violence and repression in Palestine as well as the ways they use these tools to police marginalized communities in… Read more »
April 30th, 2016 1:00pm-3:00pm Boneshaker Books 2002 23rd Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN 55404 Across the country and, most recently, in the Twin Cities, the BDS movement has experienced aggressive efforts to silence critique of Israel and foreclose on effective organizing against zionism. Last month, divestment campaigns at University of Minnesota resulted in… Read more »
The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network was very happy to hear that the student-workers in the University of California system endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) call through their local union, UAW 2865. This was the first time a major union – in this case, one representing over 14,000 workers – voted to support the BDS call, an inspiring example of grassroots union-based solidarity.
Join IJAN and Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Irvine for an Unlearning Zionism workshop on Friday, February 19th, at 11am. Find more information about this workshop and discussion here.
Join IJAN at UCLA on February 18th at 6:15pm for the first workshop on our upcoming national tour. UCLA SJP has invited IJAN to speak on campus about The Business of Backlash, mapping the funders and foundations that enable the increased repression of Palestine liberation organizing on and off campus. More information on the UCLA… Read more »
The following are workshops or presentations that IJAN offers on campuses, for movement organizations, and at other public forums. Each can be tailored for particular contexts. IJAN is also excited to train students to present and facilitate.
The Business of Backlash: The Interests and Funding Behind the Backlash against the Palestinian and Palestine Solidarity Movements
Drawing on IJAN’s extensive report by the same title, this workshop focuses on exposing the role of multi-million and billion dollar funders in repressing pro-Palestine activism in the United States. These funders exist in tight relationships with both the Israeli and US governments, working in tandem to censor and otherwise suppress the Palestinian narrative and pro-Palestine organizing, both on campus and off of it. They also fund a wide array of conservative and neoliberal causes, from homophobia to climate change denialism to the dismantling of welfare and other social protections. This presentation maps some of the key players and driving logic behind this backlash, and points to the ways our movements have creatively and strategically responded with a politics of joint struggle, both historically and in the present.
Joint Struggle against Israel’s Worldwide Role in Repression
Through the ongoing colonization of Palestine, Israel has developed expertise in repression. Since its founding Israel has collaborated with repressive regimes from Southern Africa to South America and is now involved in the global production and sales of surveillance and drone technology while also training police forces across the U.S. and around the world. Our movements need to address the ways the Israeli government and corporations, often in collaboration with the U.S., contribute to the violence and repression targeting us. The presentation provides the evidence and argument for joint struggle between those working toward Palestinian self-determination and justice for communities and movements across the United States and around the globe.
The Case of Jews against Zionism
While many Jews, particularly those in the West, support Israel, since the birth of the Zionist movement there have always been many Jews who reject the premise and politics of Zionism. In claiming to speak for all Jews, Zionism denies this history and tries to hide the growing number of Jews who reject the Zionist project. This workshop addresses the following questions: What is Zionism? What is anti-Semitism and how is it misused and manipulated by Zionism? How does Zionism impact Jews? What is the role of anti-Zionist Jews in supporting the struggle for Palestinian liberation? What is the role of anti-Zionist Jewish organizing and perspectives in broader anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-war, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles?
Greenwashing Apartheid: The Stop the Jewish National Fund Campaign
Posing as an environmental organization, the JNF has played a central role in the on-going displacement of Palestinians since 1901. This workshop exposes the JNF’s “green-washing” – using the guise of environmentalism to perpetrate land theft, environmental destruction and colonization, and introduces the international Stop the JNF Campaign.
The Misuse of Anti-Semitism
What is Anti-Semitism? What is Zionism? How have Zionist institutions used the pretense of fighting Anti-Semitism to undermine struggles for liberation? Why is Zionism a continuation rather than a departure or effective response to anti-Semitism? How do Zionism and Israel accept, use, reflect and reinforce anti-Semitism? This workshop will provide arguments against false claims of anti-Semitism and opportunities to practice challenging these claims.
Anti-Racism and Anti-Zionism
Anti-racism is an ethical imperative and strategic necessity for all of us committed to struggling for collective liberation. This workshop highlights opportunities for joint struggle against various forms of racism, including anti-Arab/anti-Muslim racism. The workshop identifies Zionism as a racist ideology and movement that founded and continues to support the Israeli apartheid state and colonial project. We argue that meaningful anti-racism necessitates an uncompromising commitment to anti-Zionism. We’ll discuss how the BDS targets we choose, internal dynamics and the messages we use can connect justice for Palestine with other liberation movements.
Never Again for Anyone
This workshop challenges the misuse of the Nazi genocide of Jews (“The Holocaust”) for political purposes. By exceptionalizing the Nazi genocide, European Jews are set apart from the victims and survivors of that and other genocides instead of being united with them. The Zionist exploitation of this genocide to justify colonization, displacement and apartheid in Palestine is a dishonor to those who survived and those who did not. The refrain “never again” must mean never again, for anyone.
Pinkwashing Apartheid: Hands off Queer Liberation
Building off of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab racism and stereotypes, Israel claims to be a safe haven for Palestinians queers and other Arabs. In contrast, Israel is a great threat to Palestinian queers and other queers in the region who are subjected to occupation, military attacks, a siege and other consequences of Israeli colonization and militarization. This workshop provides an overview of the history and use of pinkwashing, an argument of the importance of challenging pinkwashing for the movement for justice in Palestine as well as for queer liberation, and provides examples of challenges to pinkwashing by queer activists in Palestine, the larger region and across the globe.
