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The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) strongly condemns Israel’s   barbarous early-morning raid, carried out in international waters, on a maritime humanitarian convoy, during which Israeli soldiersattacked with live ammunition peaceful civilians on board, murdering atleast fifteen according to the Israeli army, perhaps many more, and wounding scores.

We are humbled and inspired by the commitment and the sacrifice of the people on board these ships. One of the boats in the convoy was named after Rachel Corrie,   murdered by an Israeli bulldozer driver while obstructing the demolition of a Palestinian housein Rafah seven years ago. This boat reminds us all that the courage andperseverance of the ships sailing to Gaza follows in an international tradition of total civic engagement and ethical commitment that echoes and responds to the perseverance and courage of a century of Palestinianresistance to ethnic cleansing and colonialism.

This attack on ships carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, including educational supplies, medical supplies and construction material, is international high seas piracy. We call on all governments to end Israel’s impunity, enforce international law and hold Israel accountable for its recurrent violations. Furthermore, this act of piracy was carried out in pursuit of maintaining a siege on Gaza, imposed by Israel with participation of the Egyptian government and US backing, a siege that is itself a crime against humanity. This criminal siege is deepening a terrible humanitarian crisis, with mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food insecurity affecting over a million and a half people, most of whom are refugees from the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, who are now locked in the world’s largest concentration camp. Palestinians in Gaza are prevented from rebuilding their houses destroyed by Israel in the massacre of 2009, and forbidden to import stuff such as toys and chocolate as punishment for having democratically elected a government that refused to collaborate with the occupation.

Monday, 31 May, 15:00-17:00

Ecumenical Centre, 150 Route de Ferney, Salles II & III

(free parking available)

Speakers:

Hazem Jamjoum
Communications officer of the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and editor of al-Majdal Quarterly Magazine

and

Caroline and Nathan Finkelstein
Geneva-based members of Urgence Palestine and of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network

The event will be in English and is organized by the Palestine IsraelEcumenical Forum on the occasion of the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, 29 May – 4 June 2010.

The World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel is convened by the World Council of Churches, which invites member churches and related organizations to join a week of advocacy and action for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

The Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum is a platform that rallies churches together enabling them to coordinate their efforts and initiatives for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

On the same date, there will be a day-long exhibition at the Ecumenical Centre with handicrafts, photos, posters, books, magazines, videos and DVDs depicting the impact of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian people.

Media contact: Ranjan Solomon, 022.791.6398, 076.395.8250, lcs@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO (May 2). Noah Lepawsky, a member of the Chicago chapter of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), was arrested today at a pro-Israel march sponsored by the Jewish United Fund of Chicago.

The annual "Walk With Israel" was interrupted by about 10 protesters from Chicago IJAN. Their message was that Jewish opinion is not, in fact, united in support of Israel.  Protesterssigns drew on their experiences of being Jewish, and read: "Jews Reject Discrimination: End Israeli Apartheid," "Jews Know Displacement: Right of Return for All Palestinian Refugees," "Jews Recognize a Ghetto: Free Gaza," and"Jews Remember Ethnic Cleansing: Remember the Nakba." Nakba is the Arabic wordfor "catastrophe" and is commonly used to describe the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948.  

"Israel’s history is one of ongoing ethnic cleansing," said Noah Lepawsky of Chicago IJAN. "Starting with the destruction of over 400 villages and the forced exile of 750,000 Palestinians, Israel continues to pursue apartheid policies.  We will not let this be erased from history." When the march began, four protesters staggered along thewalk’s route, holding up their signs but allowing marchers to proceed around them.  The remaining protesters stood across the street. Security for the Walk withIsrael called police, who demanded the protesters move.  When Lepawsky, the marshal for Chicago IJAN, attempted to ascertain the rights of the protesters from the police, he was arrested and cuffed by a man dressed as private security. 

Chicago IJAN continued the protest across the street.  Protesters chanted: "As Jews we stand for justice, no matter who it’s for!  We won’t forget the Nakba at Zionism’s core!" and "Never again, not in our name!  Israel’s violence is our shame!"  The protest continued until all Walk participants had filed by. 
 
"As Jews of conscience, it is our duty to vocalize that as long as the brutal occupation of Palestine continues, no celebration of Israel is benign," said Lee Gargagliano of IJAN. "We willbe back next year." 
 
Lepawsky was charged with disorderly conduct and released later that afternoon. 
 
"The charge of disorderly conduct is completely spurious," said Jeannette Perkal, another member of Chicago IJAN.  "We are awaiting an answer as to why the arrest was made by private security employed by the Jewish United Fund, not an officer of the law."  Perkal went on, "Wewere disturbed to learn that the JUF and the CPD find it necessary to work incollusion, both in this instance and generally. The second annual meeting of both organizations recently took place in Israel, assuring that the two share oppressive tactics and strategies for silencing dissent."  (For more information, see http://www.juf.org/news/israel.aspx?id=57594.)

With local affiliates from Chicago to the Bay Area to London and Geneva, IJAN is a growing international network of Jews whose Jewish identities are not based on Zionism but on a plurality of histories and experiences. The network is uncompromisingly committed to struggles for human emancipation, of which the liberation of the Palestinian people and land is an indispensable part. Their commitment is to the dismantling of Israeli apartheid, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the ending of the Israeli colonization of historic Palestine.

To The Associated Students of the University of California,Berkeley,

Throughout US history, campuses and students have beencentral to movements for justice. The ASUC vote for divestment from United Technologiesand General Electric, two companies that directly benefit from Israel’swell-documented war crimes in Palestine, was a moving example of the criticalrole that students play in standing against injustice.

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)proudly adds its voice to the growing chorus of international support for theUC Berkeley students who are working to overturn the veto of the divestmentbill.  

 

In 2008, IJAN Spiritual Network published the Liberation Seder Haggadah, based on the work started by No Time to Celebrate. We continue this work of elaborating alternative radical celebrations of passover with publishing a different Haggadah for 2009-10. Click here.

the 2010 Haggadah is done! It incorporates both traditional elements and reworking of material from recent years, as we continue with the work of making the Haggadah true to the event of liberation from which it sprung.

 

Download it here!

Dedicated to all of the freedom and resistance fighters of our time, to those who have come before us, and to those who will come after us.

Break the Silence Palestine solidarity mural in San Francisco’s Mission District. The mural has since been covered by wooden boards due to defamation and
threats to the Palestinian owners of the store that the mural is painted on.

 ( click on the image for a downloadable pdf version of a radically timely Pessah Hagadah )

This is a work in progress, just like the traditional haggadah. Any suggestions and corrections are welcome.

 

 

Zionism v. Judaism and Jewish Emancipation:

 

Arendt, Hannah. The Jew as Pariah: AHidden Tradition (1944);

_____________. "The Crisis of Zionism," in Jerome Kohn and Ron Feldman, eds. JewishWritings (New York: ShockinBooks, 2007, 1943), pp. 336, 334-5;

_____________. "Zionism Reconsidered" MenorahJournal (October 1944);

Avishai,Bernard. The Tragedy of Zionism: Revolution and Democracy in the Land ofIsrael (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1985);

Beit-Halahmi, Benjamin, Original Sins:Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel (New York: Olive BranchPress, 1993);

Berger, Elmer. The JewishDilemma: The Case against Zionist Nationalism (New York: Devin-Adair, 1945);

___________. Judaism or JewishNationalism: The Alternative to Zionism (New York: Bookman Associates,1957);

___________. Letters andNon-Letters: The White House, Zionism and Israel (Beirut: Institute forPalestine Studies, 1972);

___________. Memoirs of anAnti-Zionist Jew (Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1978);

___________. A PartisanHistory of Judaism: The Jewish Case against Zionism (New York: Devin-Adair,1951);

___________. Who Knows BetterMust Say So! (New York: American Council for Judaism, 1955; Beirut:Institute for Palestine Studies, reprint 1974);

___________ and Deane A. Tack. Thornsof Resistance (Grants Pass OR: Destra Publishers, 1993);

Bober, Arie, ed. The Other Israel: The RadicalCase against Zionism (New York: Doubleday, 1972);

Brenner, Lenni. Zionism in the Ageof the Dictators: A Reappraisal (London: Zed, 1983), at: http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/;

____________. The Iron Wall:Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir (London: Zed, 1984), at: http://www.marxists.de/middleast/ironwall/index.htm;

Carey,Roane and Jonathan Shainin, eds. The Other Israel: Voices of Refusal andDissent (New York: The New Press, 2002);

Davidsson,Elias. "Memorandum on institutionalized racial discrimination by and in theState of Israel" (July 1993), at:

http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=1132;

Davis, Uri. Israel: AnApartheid State (London: Zed, 1987);

________. Crossing the Border:an autobiography of an Anti-Zionist Palestinian Jew (London: Books &Books, 1995);

________. Citizenship and theState: A Comparative Study of Citizenship Legislation in Israel, Jordan,Palestine, Syria and Lebanon (London, Ithaca Press, 1997);

________. Apartheid Israel:Possibilities for the Struggle Within (2004);

________. Israel: UtopiaIncorporated – A Study of Class, State and Corporate Kin Control (London:Ithaca Press, 1977);

________, Fouzi el-Asmar and NaimKhader, eds. Debate on Palestine (London: Ithaca Press, 1981);

________, Fawzi el-Asmar and NaimKhader. Towards a Socialist Republic of Palestine (London: Ithaca Press,1978);

________, Andrew Mack and NiraYuval-Davis Israel & the Palestinians (London: Ithaca Press, 1975);

________, Martin Blatt and PaulKleinbaum, eds., Dissent & Ideology in Israel: Resistance to the Draft1948-1973 (London: Ithaca Press, 1975);

________ and Norton Mezvinsky. Documentsfrom Israel, 1967-73: Readings for a Critique of Zionism (London: IthacaPress, 1975);

Joseph,Benjamin M. Besieged Bedfellows: Israel & the Land of Apartheid
(Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1988);

Kolsky, Thomas A. Jewsagainst Zionism: The American Council for Judaism, 1942-1948 (Philadelphia:Temple University Press, 1990);

Kovel, Joel. OvercomingZionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine (London: PlutoPress, 2007);

Kushner,Tony and Alisa Solomon, eds. Wrestling with Zion (New York: Grove Press,2003);

Lehn, Walter, with Uri Davis. The JewishNational Fund (London: Kegan Paul International, 1988);

Leon, Abram. The Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation (NewYork: Pathfinder Press, 1970), at:

http://www.archive.org/details/TheJewishQuestion.AMarxistInterpretation;

Menuhin, Moshe.The Decadence of Judaism in Our Time(New York: Exposition Press New York, 1966; and Beirut: Institute for PalestineStudies, 1969).

Meyer, Hajo G. The End of Judaism: An EthicalTradition Betrayed (Brooklyn NY: Atlas Books (G. Meyer Books), October 2007);

Mezvinsky, Norton. Disagreementin Definition: Three Views of the American Jewish Community in the TwentiethCentury (Madison WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1956);

_______________, with Uri Davis.Documents from Israel, 1967-73: Readings for a Critique of Zionism (London:Ithaca Press, 1975);

_______________, with IsraelShahak. Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel (London: Pluto Press, 2004);

Picciotto,Henri and Mitchell Plitnick, eds. Alternative Jewish Perspectives(Oakland CA: Jewish Voice for Peace, 2004);

   Selzer,Michael. Zionism reconsidered: the rejection of Jewish normalcy (NewYork: Macmillan, 1970);

Smith,Gary V., ed. Zionism. The Dream and the Reality-A Jewish Critique(London: David & Charles Newton Abbot, 1974; New York: MacMillian, 1970; NewYork. Barnes and Noble, 1974);

Strauss Feuerlicht,Roberta. TheFate of the Jews: A People Torn between Israeli Power and Jewish Ethics (New York:Random House, 1983);

Tekiner, Roselle, Norton Mezvinskyand Samir Abed Rabbo, eds. Anti-Zionism: Analytical Reflections(Brattleboro VT: Amana Books, 1988);

Zand, Shlomo. TheInvention of the Jewish People (New York:Verso, 2009).

 

Historic Themes:

  

Butenschn, Nils A.,Manuel S. Hassassian, Uri Davis. Citizenship and the State inthe Middle East: Approaches and Applications (Syracuse NY: SyracuseUniversity Press, 2000);

Davis, Uri, Hasan Amun, and NasrDakhlallah San´allah. Deir al-Asad: The Destiny of an Arab Village inGalilee (London: Ithaca Press, 1977);

Khalidi, Walid. FromHaven to Conquest: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem until 1948(Beirut and Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1971, reprint 1991);

Masalha,Nur. Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in ZionistPolitical Thought, 1882-1948 (Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies,1992);

< p>Pappe, Ilan. TheEthnic Cleansing of Palestine (London: Oneworld Publications, 2006);

Segev, Tom,1949: The First Israelis (New York: Free Press, 1986).

Bay IJAN joined with other organizations to take part in the action reported below and also in Aljazeera news (see below).

SF Activists Protest Hebron closures

by anon.
Friday Feb 26th, 2010 11:04 AM

On a normal Thursday evening, a group of protesters transformed San Francisco’s busiest shopping district into a scene which reflected the realities of Palestinian life in Hebron in the West Bank.