IJAN congratulates Studentsfor Justice in Palestine on an extremely successful context. We wereinspired by all of the incredible work that students across the US are doing. IJANwas honored to speak with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Malcolm X GrassrootsMovement on the closing panel of the National Students for Justice in PalestineConference, "Beyond Solidarity with Palestine: The Case for Joint Struggle."

The closing session was kicked off by a speaker from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de AztlánMEChA powerfully articulating themeaning of joint struggle through sharing its commitment to the struggle forPalestine in the context of its broader work. Nadia Barhoum and Mira Nabulsiof PYM, Sanyika Bryant of MXGM and Sara Kershnar of IJAN spoke to theimportance of organizing in support of Palestinian self-determination in acontext that builds the power of all of our movements to confront our sharedenemies. The well received panel featured a detailed discussion of what joint struggle is and is not and offered studentsand other organizers questions to ask themselves as they are doing their work.

We look forward to working closely with student organizersin the future and left the conference heartened and inspired by the powerfulwork happening inside a climate of intimidation and the targeting of students.

Urban Shield

From October 25^th-27^th armsmanufacturers and police forces across the world gathered in the Bay Area toparticipate in Urban Shield, a48-hour training exercise (i.e. war games) and homeland security industry tradeshow. While the stated purpose of Urban Shield is disaster preparation, itsoutrageous scenarios promote expanded anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism andincreased militarization of the police with the disproportionate impact that hason people of color in the United States. Joining in these exercises were policeforces and militaries engaged in extreme repression including Israel, Bahrainand Brazil among others. Urban Shield reflects the globalized nature ofpolicing and surveillance, and Israel's important place in it as explained inthe IJAN pamphlet, "Israel's Worldwide Role in Repression." IJAN participatedin the organizing of the FacingUrban Shield Action Network (FUSAN) as they confronted this collaborationbetween repressive police forces. Visit their page for a full media roundup ofthe actions.