As anti-Zionist activists -- women andmen of many religions and of none, in and around the Labor Movement in Canada, theUnited States and the UK -- we are delighted to be represented here in Cairo atthis historic moment.  Like everyone who wants a better world for workersand our families, we acknowledge that when the people of Egypt (Shaab alMasri) in their millions revolt against injustice, it is a defining momentfor workers around the world.

We send thankful greetings to thepeoples of North Africa and South-WestAsia who have launched a new wave of international revolutionary activity which has had animmediate impact as far afield at least as Madison,Wisconsin (USA).  The occupation ofthe Wisconsin State House has joined the immigrant rights movement and others ingiving new life and energy to working class movements (union and non-union) inthe United States.  It was followed inArizona by students using the same tools as their counterparts here, occupyingthe school board and chainingthemselves in; while in Olympia, Washington State, students and unions occupiedthe state capital also protesting budget cuts. In Wisconsin, directly influenced byTahrir Square, students, young people, seniors, unionists and mothers withchildren, occupied a US State House for the first time in living memory andheld it for weeks, redecorating the building with picket signs, banners,slogans and other symbols of resistance in defiance of the state governor.

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.