US | IJAN

The United States IJAN chapter has members across the country, from the West Coast to the Midwest to New England. We focus on issues and campaigns that are specific to our context, while remaining in close conversation and consultation with international partners and points of reference. Within the US, we work closely with a variety of organizations and networks within, or in solidarity with, the Palestinian liberation movement, as well as those who are struggling against racism, colonialism, class rule, and state violence more broadly within the US, but who understand the importance of the Palestinian struggle to all of our movements.

IJAN Condemns Islamophobia and the Murder of three Muslim Students in Chapel Hill, NC

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) expresses its profound sympathy and grief over the brutal murder of three Muslim American students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on February 10, 2015. We send our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the victims of this heinous crime. 19-year-old Razan Muhammed Abu-Salha, 21-year-old Yusor Muhammed Abu-Salha, and 23 year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat were all murdered in cold blood, “execution-style,” as the father of the two women said.

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’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.

IJAN Attends National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference

IJAN congratulates Studentsfor Justice in Palestine on an extremely successful context. We wereinspired by all of the incredible work that students across the US are doing. IJANwas honored to speak with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Malcolm X GrassrootsMovement on the closing panel of the National Students for Justice in PalestineConference, "Beyond Solidarity with Palestine: The Case for Joint Struggle."

The closing session was kicked off by a speaker from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de AztlánMEChA powerfully articulating themeaning of joint struggle through sharing its commitment to the struggle forPalestine in the context of its broader work. Nadia Barhoum and Mira Nabulsiof PYM, Sanyika Bryant of MXGM and Sara Kershnar of IJAN spoke to theimportance of organizing in support of Palestinian self-determination in acontext that builds the power of all of our movements to confront our sharedenemies. The well received panel featured a detailed discussion of what joint struggle is and is not and offered studentsand other organizers questions to ask themselves as they are doing their work.

We look forward to working closely with student organizersin the future and left the conference heartened and inspired by the powerfulwork happening inside a climate of intimidation and the targeting of students.

Urban Shiled Training Exercises Confronted in Oakland

Urban Shield

From October 25^th-27^th armsmanufacturers and police forces across the world gathered in the Bay Area toparticipate in Urban Shield, a48-hour training exercise (i.e. war games) and homeland security industry tradeshow. While the stated purpose of Urban Shield is disaster preparation, itsoutrageous scenarios promote expanded anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism andincreased militarization of the police with the disproportionate impact that hason people of color in the United States. Joining in these exercises were policeforces and militaries engaged in extreme repression including Israel, Bahrainand Brazil among others. Urban Shield reflects the globalized nature ofpolicing and surveillance, and Israel's important place in it as explained inthe IJAN pamphlet, "Israel's Worldwide Role in Repression." IJAN participatedin the organizing of the FacingUrban Shield Action Network (FUSAN) as they confronted this collaborationbetween repressive police forces. Visit their page for a full media roundup ofthe actions.

Racism, Militarism, Poverty: From Ferguson to Palestine

Dozens of organizations signed on to this letter defending Angela Davis' speech at UC Santa Cruz's 2015 Martin Luther King Convocation against attack by the Amcha Initiative. Excerpt: "We write specifically in support of the movements and individuals, like Angela Davis, who are exposing the role of the U.S. government and its partnership with Israeli state agencies and corporations to police. This partnership has expanded repressive policing, which criminalizes Black, Brown, immigrant, poor, queer and transgender communities."