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This April 4th, 2009, IJAN was honored to be a presenter in the first annualWhite Privilege and U.S. Imperialism track of the White Privilege Conference.The 10th Annual Conference on White Privilege(WPC) was held this past April 1-4 in Memphis,Tennessee. The White PrivilegeConference is a national, annual, multi-racial conference.

The IJAN workshop, "Confronting Zionism as a Form of Racism," was a 3-hourlong, half-day institute. Its primary purpose was to historicize andcontextualize Zionism in the context of Racism and Imperialism. The workshopwas very well attended with over 30 actively engaged participants in livelydiscussion. (Read More to see the fullworkshop description.)

From Jewish immigrant labor organizers in NewYork City, to revolutionaries in Europe and LatinAmerica, to the Black Panthers - many organizations have usedstudy as an integral part of building movements.  The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network(IJAN) hopes to builds on these legacies, using political education to informour anti-Zionist and Palestinesolidarity work.  It is with this visionthat we are developing our Study to Action program. 

IJAN's Political Education and Leadership Development workgroup is in the process of revising the syllabus that was piloted during our2007-2008 study groups, offering more political analysis, multimedia andcurricular tools, as well as tools for facilitators and study grouporganizers.   To access the outline of therevised syllabus, click here.We welcome your input and ideas for study materials and curricular tools.

In Fall 2007, IJAN hosted six study groups around the United States,using a syllabus developed by the IJAZ Network activists Ora Wise, HaleyPollack, and Ryvka bar Zohar.  Participants in Los Angeles, the SanFrancisco Bay Area, Miami, New York, Detroit and Philadelphia came together toexplore the history of Zionism and the development of Palestinian resistance,as well as histories of Jewish resistance that have been erased byZionism.  To access the2007 syllabus click here .

Through political education, we are working to build aframework for a shared understanding of imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism,and locate our work within different political ideologies, tendencies, andmovements, and within a history of anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist struggleand strategy.   We will use study to informour campaigns and tactics and assess our context, conditions, and strategicrole.  We hope that through this processwe will build relationships within the network, and deepen our strategy andpractice as we support our personal transformation and emotional divestmentfrom Zionism.

For support in organizing a study group in your region,email support.study@ijsn.com.

This is an ongoing project. If you would like to start or join a study groupin your area, click here tocontact us.