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Bat Sheva Dance Company Demonstration

Members of Chicago IJAN participated in a picket at the performance of the Bat Sheva Dance Company, a group sponsored by the Israeli government. The demonstration’s theme was “Don’t dance on Gaza’s graves.” This action was in solidarity with the call for a cultural boycott of Israel, a campaign that has drawn compelling parallels between the need to boycott Israeli-supported events and the boycott against South African government-sponsored groups during Apartheid in South Africa.

Chicago Study Group

From Jewish immigrant labor organizers in New York City, to people working for social justice in Europe and Latin America, to the Black Panthers-- many organizations have used study as an integral part of building movements. Chicago IJAN has worked to build on these legacies, using political education to inform our anti-Zionist and Palestine solidarity work. Our ten-session study group began in September and will go until mid-January. We hold meetings every two weeks for two hours at a time. The material includes academic articles, poetry, creative nonfiction, film, and art work. Group members take turns facilitating. Our study group has been an overwhelming success, and have about 10 core participants. Plans are percolating for future continuations and new versions of the study group!

IJAN Participated in Campus BDS Conference

From November 20-22, IJAN organizers attended the Campus BDS Conferenceat Hampshire College, the first US campus to divest from Israel.The conference was an inspiring gathering of students from more than 50colleges and universities, and Palestine solidarity movement activistsfrom across the U.S., working together to expand and solidify Boycott,Divestment, and Sanctions work on our campuses and in ourcommunities. Hampshireorganizers shared lessons from their divestment campaign and looked tothe work ahead of them to maintain divestment and grow the explicitcommitment of the campus to Palestinian liberation. At the conference,IJAN organizers facilitated severalrequested workshops.