On 24 September, theFBI subjectedabout a dozen anti-war and international solidarity activists to raids of theirhomes, subpoenas and searches in Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan. Activists in California, Wisconsinand North Carolinawere also harassed. Theseraids on activist communities should be deeply troubling to all social justiceactivists, whether their work is focused within the U.S. or internationally.
The InternationalJewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) joins the chorus of international condemnationof the US government attemptto silence people in the UnitedStates who act for human dignity and justiceand who speak out against war and occupation.
From Columbia toPalestine, from the Philippines to Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, the UnitedStates and its allies promote or instigate war and military repression ofindigenous people, providing weapons, ammunition and training to suppress localstruggles against economic, political and social injustice. The USsupports the Israeli occupation of historic Palestine to the tune of $3 billion dollars ayear and more in direct military aid. In return, Israelprovides the USwith a military and political stronghold in a region whose resources it needs. Like Israel, Colombiais a primary US partnerand largest recipient of USmilitary aid in its hemisphere. Six billion UStax-dollars over the past ten years have made Colombia the third largestrecipient of US military assistance in the world, after Israel and Egypt. Meanwhile,basic resources for people who live in the Unites States - access toemployment, health care and education - are crumbling.
These priorities andpolicies are not new, nor is the dissent against them and the attempt to quell,crush and silence that dissent. Throughout UShistory, those who suffer from domestic policies, and who refuse to accept thesuffering caused by U.S.foreign policy, have always spoken out, and are consistently threatened orpunished for doing so effectively.
By removing those who protestdehumanization and disregard for human life in the name of power and control ofresources, the checks and balances of a society are removed. The blatantlypolitical use of anti-terrorism laws to suppress dissent reveals these laws'cynical purpose. We must be vigilant inassuring the right of concerned people to push governments to act in more justways without the threat of being labeled terrorists or terroristsympathizers. The laws used to targetthese activists, and indeed the whole list of terrorist groups itself, areinherently illegitimate and are being used to push a political agenda, not toensure public security.
We, anti-Zionist Jewsinvolved in global anti-war, Palestinesolidarity and social justice movements, encourage the anti-war movement in theUnited States to place Palestine squarely in thecenter of its anti-war agenda. Challenging the USfunding of Israel will notdetract from critiques of the USoccupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Onthe contrary, reducing the isolation of the Palestinian struggle, advancingchallenges to Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, and directly challenging themutually beneficial relationship shared by the US and Israel are key to shiftingUS policy and practice that set the stage for endless war.
Struggles againstpolice brutality, incarceration, deportation and detention, poverty,homelessness and environmental racism inside the US are increasingly understoodalongside the need for the US to end its foreign occupations and funding ofwars abroad. Likewise, the struggles to live in dignity in Colombia, Haiti,Palestine, Yemen,and so many countries around the world share the task of challenging U.S.intervention. We must continue tobolster the cross-struggle anti-war movement in the US that is being targetedprecisely for its potential as a force of peace and justice with which thewarmongers must reckon.
