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.

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