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US Campaign Decides on Joint Struggle Strategy

IJAN offers congratulations to the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupationon the new direction their 12th Annual National Organizers' Conference inArlington, VA decided to take! The conference focused on Joint Strugglefor a free Palestine and was attended by more than 200 people representing 60member groups. A crucial plenary session entitled "JointStruggle Against Israel's Role in Repression" included the speakersSara Kershnar of IJAN, Hatem Bazian of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP),Fahd Ahmed of Desis Rising up and Moving (DRUM), and Maria LaHood of Center forConstitutional Rights (CCR). The plenary was very well attended and laidout a clear and compelling case the stake that many movements and communitieshave in ending Zionism - understanding the central role Israel is playingglobally in the realms of surveillance and political repression, prisons andpolicing, militarized borders, detention and deportation. IJAN also presented two workshops - one onanti-Zionism and anti-Racism and another on the Stop the JNF campaign. IJANcongratulates the US Campaign on new board member Hatem Abudayyah from the USPalestinian Communities Network.

IJAN Participates in "Self-Critique 2 Decades after Oslo" Conference

The Conference, held at the School of Oriental andAfrican Studies (SOAS) in London, was hosted by the SOAS Palestinian Societyand drew close to 200 academics and activists from around the world. While allthe presentations were useful, talks by Adam Hanieh and Jamal Juma stand out.Hanieh laid out how some sectors of Palestinian society had in fact actuallybenefited from Oslo (getting jobs and money) and therefore had a vestedinterest in continuing the partnership with Zionism at the expense of theoverwhelming majority of Palestinians. Two presentations by Stop the Wall'sJamal Juma, a grassroots activist from the West Bank, offered a detaileddescription of resistance on the ground both in the lead up to the Oslo Accordsand continued resistance to fight against the monster that the Oslo Accordshave created.

IJAN's contributionincluded laying out in detail why we organize as Jews against Zionism, and adescription of our strategy of Joint Struggle against Zionism as part ofbroader movements for justice and using the grass-roots Palestinian resistanceas our point of reference. Otherspeakers explained how in the aftermath of Oslo utilities in the West Bank havebeen integrated into Israeli and settlement distribution systems making itpossible to cut off electricity and water to Palestinians while leaving thesettlements untouched. You can see a video of much of the conference here.

Integrating Critique and Moving Forward from Stuart Platt on Vimeo.

IJAN’s 5th Anniversary Event in Oakland

A standing room only crowd of approximately 150 inOakland, California attended IJAN's 5th anniversary celebration there to hearspokespeople from several grassroots organizations talk about theirunderstanding and experience of Joint Struggle. While Joint Struggle was thefocus of the meeting, the backdrop was lessons from the prisoner hunger strikesaround the world including in Palestine, Guantanamo Bay and the recently-suspendedprisoners' hunger strike in California of some 30,000 inmates many of whom arein solitary confinement. As one speakernoted, with the California prisoner statement on ending racial hostilities,"they have organized us!"

Sara Kershnar from IJAN said in the introductionthat Joint Struggle "reflects how we aim to organize and what our commitmentsare." Speaker after speaker made it clear that too often solidarity has beeneither lip-service or pity, not actually working on the basis that struggles ofothers for justice and self-determination are "inextricably linked" andintegral to our own, starting with prisoners around the globe.

The groups who spokefrom the platform included the Palestinian Youth Movement, All of Us or None,the California Coalition of Women Prisoners, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement,the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, the Haiti International SolidarityCommittee, and the Global Women's Strike. It is important to point out that atleast two of the speakers were formerly incarcerated people themselves, whohave come out the other end, more determined than ever to tear down all thewalls that separate us.