This IJAN presentation was Presented at the First Forum for Solidarity with Arab revolutions on a panel about the challenges to Zionism posed by theArab revolutions and uprisings. 

We are here to discuss theArab-Zionist conflict in the context of the Arab revolutions. The Arabrevolutions are the most salient challenge to Zionism after the Palestinianstruggle itself.  Our work in support ofPalestine is transformed by the revolutions here because everyone knows that ifit's Egypt today, its Palestine tomorrow. It validates and gives power to our work in the important sense thatpublic opinion in the West, of the region in general and Palestine inparticular, shaped by corporate media, is no longer dominated by the threat ofterrorism, but is filled with irrefutable images of people fighting fordemocracy - a fight that is incompatible with the existence of a Zionist,colonial state in the region.

I will first discuss brieflyhow we are challenging Zionism in a more general sense, and from our specificlocation as Jews, some of whom are Arab, but the majority of whom are not andwho live in the West.  Then I will speakdirectly to the implications of the Arab revolutions for this struggle. 

Our challenge to Zionism

For us, as it does for thepopular movements in the region here, our work against imperialism has at thecenter our solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation. Because weunderstand the challenge to Zionism as an anti-imperialist struggle, we mustchallenge the role that Zionism plays in the region as an agent of imperialismand as a military stronghold for the West. Then, stemming from there, our workrevolves around solidarity with those most impacted by Zionism in the countriesin which we organize - Arab, Southwest Asian, and Muslim communities who arearrested and held without trial for fabricated charges of material aid toterrorists and subjected to racist attacks in their home and on the street.

It is withgratitude, respect, hope and inspiration that the International JewishAnti-Zionist Network is participating in this First Forum for Solidarity with Arabrevolutions. 

IJAN is aninternational network of Jews who are uncompromisingly committed to humanemancipation. To this end we focus on the struggle for the liberation of thePalestinian people and land. We are committed to ending Israel apartheid andcolonization and to the right of return of Palestinian refugees. 

Beginning withthe struggle to dismantle Zionism and confront Islamophobia, we participate inlocal and international movements against all forms of racism, exploitation,and militarism, and for economic, political, social, cultural and environmentalrights. We organize as an international network that is active across theUnited States, the UK, Canada, Argentina, India, France, Switzerland, Spain,the Netherlands, and in Israel itself.

We haveappreciation and deep gratitude for the risks taken in so great a challenge toimperialism and Zionism. The most effective way for people in the coreimperialist countries to act in solidarity and defend the Arab revolutions isto extend them to Europe and to the US. The crisis that has been the catalystfor revolution in the region is global.

The Chicago Chapter has been working on building locally.In the past few months we have developed two new workshops with the intention of bringing them to college campuses and other organizations.

One workshop lays out what Jewish anti-Zionism is and articulates how we view the importance of anti-Zionism from a Jewish perspective as vital in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. The workshop examines Zionist ideology and history, and works to extract theidea of Zionism from Judaism. The workshop also offers an analysis of why it is important and useful to organize as a Jewish group focusing onthe way that Zionism involuntarily implicates Jews in its colonial project. IJAN Chicago was invited to present this workshop for the Middle Eastern Students Association at Loyola University and it was verywell received.

The second workshop focuses on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The workshop historicizes the movement and grounds it in the rights-based frame of the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society (much of the analysis was drawn from Omar Barghuti's book BDS: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights).Additionally, the workshop encourages participants to identify and collectively unpack some of the more common arguments against BDS. It also gives participants an opportunity to analyze the strengths and challenges of various campaigns and works to identify what a good local target might look like as well as what a strong campaign would include.

If you would like more information on either of these workshops or are interested in having us present one of them for your group, please contact us at chicago@ijsn.net.