These are two exciting conferences approaching, to be held in the Twin Cities:

Overcoming Racism: Recognizing & Challenging the Legacies That Oppress Us

October 29 & 30, 2010William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, MNhttp://www.overcomingracism.org/

IJAN-TC members will be presenting the workshop Unlearning Zionism: What Anti-Racist Activists Need to Know

on Saturday, October 30th at 12:30

We’ll use experiential education to explore how the dominant discourse around Palestine, Israel and Zionism upholds institutionalized racism. We will learn about different colonial projects and place the issue of Palestinian Sovereignty in the context of imperialism, further contextualizing the struggle in Palestine as an Indigenous struggle. Anti-racist activists will be invited to connect their own work to the Anti-Zionist Palestine Solidarity Movement.

Minnesota OUT! Campus ConferenceUniting for Justice: A Deeper Look into Race, Economics and Immigration in GLBTQ CommunitiesNovember 12-14, 2010 at Augsburg College in Minneapolishttp://www.mncampusalliance.org/mocc/

IJAN-TC members will be presenting the workshop The Co-optation of Queer Liberation; Pinkwashing, Palestine and our joint struggles

on Saturday November 13th

The language and ideology of Queer Liberation is currently being used bythe US and Israeli governments to mask racism and colonialism. During this workshop we will define Queer Liberation and identify the intersections in our personal struggles with the struggles of others. Wewill then discuss what is solidarity, and how we work against Islamophobia and for Indigenous sovereignty, here and in Palestine.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact stopjnf.us@gmail.com  

A historic confrontation of the JNF by Atlanta Jews seeking the revocation of JNF's charitable status  

On October 10, 2010, over 30 Atlanta Jews and other people of conscience protestedthe 2010 Jewish National Fund (JNF) Annual Conferenceheld at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Atlanta, GA over Columbus Day weekend.  At the start of the protest, the group sent a delegation into the conference, peacefully interrupting the main plenary.   Onemember of the delegation, Lisa Adler, shouted from the front of the plenary, "The JNF lied to me. I am a Jew who once gave but never again.  Find out the truth, JNF displaces Palestinians and covers up their villages with trees.  Join us in stopping the JNF and Israeli Apartheid."  Afterpeacefully delivering their message and facing punches and kicks, the delegation proceeded to the front entrance of the hotel and joined with the full group marching with signs and chanting, "JNF, shame on you, displacing people is what you do." 

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to acquire land for Jewish settlement. Jews around the world are familiar with donating to the JNF through itsblue and white signature collection boxes for campaigns such as "Plant aTree in Israel".  In this way, the JNF has represented itself and been recognized in over 50 countries as a charitable environmental organization. However, Jews and others have become increasingly aware of its true role in Israel.  The JNF in reality, uses its reforestation projects to literally cover up Palestinian villages that have been destroyed to makeway for the state of Israel and thereby preventing the return of Palestinians to their land.  They are integral to an apartheid system inIsrael by requiring that only Jews can lease or buy land that they control.  Currently, the JNF is displacing Bedouin populations in the Negev to make room for more Jewish-only settlements.  As the conscience around the world is raised around Israel's policies, more and more Jews are speaking out and demanding an end to these discriminatory practices. 

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Photos, video and interviews available, including: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aareJ8-SgAM

Black Agenda Morning Shot for Monday, October 11, 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StgGyj6mPKU