The ChicagoChapter continues to work with the PalestineSolidarity Group (PSG) to build a BDS campaign targeting municipal tiesbetween Chicago and Israel.  Specifically,the campaign is focused around ending Chicago's Sister City relationship withPetach Tikva in Israel, a relationship that promotes business ties and offerslegitimacy.  One particularly egregiousexample of Petach Tikva's complicity in human rights violations is the PetachTikva prison.  The prison is an Israelidetention center where Palestinian prisoners are held, including the prominentPalestinian activist Ameer Makhoul.  Weintend to expand the size of the campaign and apply pressure to the SisterCities committee as well as the Chicago City Council as the first step in whatwill hopefully become a campaign targeting other municipal ties that Chicagohas with Israel.

Checkout the following videos from the campaign: "Academy Awards Ceremony for the Arts and Sciences of Military Occupation" and a satirical Public Service Anouncement, "Chicago and Petach Tikva: Never Better Sisters."  Also check out the PSG organized flashmob on Palestinian Land Day imploring Chicagoans to take up BDS.

The Chicago Chapter continues to work locally with theCommittee Against Political Repression and nationally with the Committee to Stop FBI Repression to supportthe 23 Midwest activists who have been subpoenaed and targeted by the FBI fordoing Palestine and Colombia solidarity organizing.  As new developments happen rapidly, pleasesign the Pledgeto Resist FBI Repression.  Stayinformed of emergency response plans in your area and check stopfbi.netto keep up to date on the case.  Here aresome of the major developments in the case:

So far seven members of the House of Representatives (JanShakowsky, Keith Ellison, Luis Gutierrez, Danny Davis, Jim McDermott, JohnConyers, and David Price) and Richard Durbin (Sen. IL) have sent letters ofconcern to Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.  Please contact your legislator and urge themto send a letter as well.

A recent victory in the case was achieved when, after aflood of phone calls from supporters nation-wide, TCFbank unfroze the bank accounts of the Abudayyeh family after having frozenthem shortly before Mother's Day.  Movingforward we will need to keep the pressure up. Additionally, several documentswere left behind by officers raiding Mick Kelley's home providingadditional information about the McCarthy-esque tactics of the FBI.  Just last week the FBI and LA policeraided the home of Carlos Montes, a co-founder of the Brown Berets.

Finally in order to continue this vital legal work, thecommittee needs to keep raising funds for legal and other expenses.  Please contribute online at: http://www.stopfbi.net/donate or writea check to the National Lawyers Guild with CHICAGO FBI CASE in the memoline.  Please mail checks to:

NationalLawyers Guild

113University Place, 8th Floor

New York, NY 10003

Chicago's chapter of the International Jewish Anti-ZionistNetwork (Chicago IJAN) is running an anti-Zionist study group! Folks who were involved in the last studygroup are encouraged to return, and new folks are invitedto join.

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) hopes to buildon legacies of study groups using political education to inform our anti-Zionist andPalestine solidarity work.

Though organized by a Jewish-identified collective, the study group is open to everyone, and thematerials are not Jewish-specific.

We will be exploring four topics, with three sessionsdevoted to each topic.  Participants are encouraged to commit to coming toall three sessions of a particular topic, but need not commit to the full 12sessions/4 topics.

The four topics are:

* History of Zionism

* Palestinian History and Resistance

* South African Apartheid and the BDS Movement

* Arabs in America and Islamophobia 

Participants are expected to read or engage with media for1-2 hours a week outside of meeting times. Group memberswill take turns facilitating. The reading group materialwill include academic articles, poetry, creative nonfiction, film, and artwork.

For a syllabus or to find out about attending the biweeklystudy group, please contact us at chicago@ijsn.net(We are completing the first section, focused on the History of Zionism; thenext installment focusing on Palestinian Resistance is slated to begin Mondayevening, June 6^th).