Total number of comments: 33 (since 2010-01-17 00:16:09)
I am co-director of the Al-Nakba Awareness Project based in Eugene, Oregon. The Al-Nakba Awareness Project Advocating Freedom, Justice and Equality in the Holy Land We believe Middle East peace will come only through recognizing and correcting 62+ years of dispossession imposed by force upon the indigenous Muslim, Christian, and other Arabic peoples of Palestine. Peace cannot bypass justice. We advocate a solution based upon principles of democratic equality, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international law which include the unequivocal right of return for over 4 million UN-registered Palestinian refugees. As the origin of the conflict, we believe that awareness of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe, is critical for understanding and solving the problem. Israel’s original goal and its ongoing strategy of “nishul” – displacement or dispossession in Hebrew – remains unchanged since 1948 and has blocked resolution for many decades. We learned from our own Jim Crow history, affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, that separate is never equal. We therefore do not support a two-state solution, which would institutionalize segregation of two peoples and allow the apartheid system within Israel to remain unchallenged. A “Jewish and democratic” state is an Orwellian oxymoron. It cannot be both. In truth, Israel is a democracy only for its Jewish citizens. Non-Jews in Israel are denied equal rights in virtually every area of life. Instead, we support an integrated, egalitarian state with freedom and equal rights for all its citizens. The Arab population of historic Palestine, including the 20% non-Jewish citizens inside Israel, must be provided constitutional protections against the racist laws that currently exist. Colonial Zionism is an archaic, ethnic nationalist,19th century ideology that continues to underpin a Jewish supremacist system not unlike South African apartheid and white supremacist, segregationist Jim Crow in our pre-1960s South. We challenge this and its support by our country as incompatible with American principles of government and international standards of human rights. American knee-jerk support of Israel and its continuous human rights violations has been maintained by a relentless campaign of deception, disinformation and financial political control by the most powerful lobby in Washington affecting our foreign policy - AIPAC and some 50 other major American Jewish organizations. Israeli occupation of both Palestine and Washington, D.C. must end. Obstruction has also come from the left, the so-called “Alternatives to AIPAC,” which promote dialogue, negotiation and compromise rather than enforcement of international law. The victim of a robbery cannot be required to negotiate or compromise with the thief over how much to return. Before dialogue or negotiation can yield resolution, external, non-violent intervention forces must be applied to equalize power, which is now grossly imbalanced. Citizens deeply disturbed by our pathological symbiosis with Israel can apply pressure through product boycotts and divestment ( www.pacbi.org and http://www.bdsmovement.net/ ) from Israeli businesses as well as U.S. companies supporting the occupation, and demand an end to U.N. Security Council vetoes by the U.S. (42 to date) that have long protected Israel from international justice. This will simultaneously save Israel from its current path of self-destruction, which many insightful Israelis recognize. To survive, gain admission to the community of nations, and emerge from its self-imposed ghetto behind fortress walls, Israel must repudiate Zionism and transform itself into a normal, multi-ethnic, non-discriminatory constitutional democracy in the modern Western tradition. www.al-nakba-history.com HappyHeartMom@comcast.net jack@jdresser.com chrisbarghout@hotmail.com
Would love to see both this ad campaign and Dr. Hatem Bazian (AMP) in Eugene, Oregon. Our community has never heard a Palestinian Muslim educate and mobilize for Palestinian human rights.
I think people were still believing the Exodus myth at that time - that Israel was a land without a people for a people without a land. My understanding is that historians such as Ilan Pappe and Avi Shalaim did not have access to the military archives until the early 80's, therefore the truth of the Palestinian Nakba was largely unknown, except for the victims of course. Please see also Lenni Brenner's piece, The Black Civil Rights Movement And Zionism (link to thestruggle.org).
Birthright Israel?
Just whose birthright is it to go to Israel?
Some young American-born Jewish student or a Palestinian refugee who has direct ties - and whose family has had direct ties - to their homeland for centuries?
I think of Birthright Israel as a supremacist, hate-mongering organization working to obstruct the human rights (the right of return) of an entire group of people and very dangerous because it is so well-funded and organized.
We strongly advocate the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their families in our community, so much so, that the so-called "progressive left" J-Street rabbi has started distributing what we refer to as the "Jewish refugees from Arab Lands myth" in a shameless effort to obstruct this advocacy. Here are some links to help others expose this sham:
Iraqi Jews reject ‘cynical manipulation’ of their history by Israel, Zionists
link to tinyurl.com
Israeli hasbara effort– ‘Justice for Jewish refugees from Arab countries’– gets pushback from Baghdadi Jews
link to tinyurl.com
The Zionist Destruction of the Iraqi Jewish Community
When the Zionist Underground Planted Bombs Outside Baghdad's Jewish Cafes and Synagogues
link to tinyurl.com
Israel’s Refugee Pawns
link to tinyurl.com
Naeim Giladi, World Organization of Jews from Islamic Countries, interview,
link to tinyurl.com
Thanks Marc,
I looked up the Silverstein piece, "David Brotsky’s Romance With Guns, Violence and Pro-Israel Hate" definitely a must-read. Here's the link: link to tinyurl.com
One can find a nice critique of J Street here, link to tinyurl.com) J Street, a Dead End for Palestinians. Excerpt:
J Street director Jeremy Ben-Ami has said, “J Street is proud of AIPAC’s many accomplishments” and distinguished the two groups as having “different priorities rather than different views.” For example, the January 2012 issue of our local Jewish Federation Newsletter announced an upcoming event, “J-Street and AIPAC will present how each organization supports Israel. Come find out how both groups are walking different paths to the same goal." J Street Field Director Carinne Luck stated in a Jewish Review piece, "J Street is more often lobbying on the same side as AIPAC..."
See also these links re: Hillel:
1) The US to Gaza Initiative and the Hillel Controversy at Rutgers
Deepa Kumar Monthly Review Magazine. November 5, 2010
link to tinyurl.com
2)Hillel to DePaul SJP: The Nakba is a ‘festivity to to delegitimize and destroy Israel’
by Sami Kishawi on May 13, 2010 link to tinyurl.com
3)Let the Sun Shine In: Israel lobby tries to censor my appearance at University of New Mexico
Ali Abunimah link to tinyurl.com
4) JVP, Harsh Critic Of Israel, Seeks a Seat at the Communal Table But Its Refusal To Support ‘Two States’ Prevents Acceptance By Gal Beckerman
Published April 13, 2011, issue of April 22, 2011. link to tinyurl.com
5) Hillel students and professionals gear up to face anti-Israel campus activism
By Sue Fishkoff · August 16, 2010 link to tinyurl.com
Please. No Killary.
What if thousands of us stopped playing the good cop/bad cop game and voted Green?
link to gp.org
The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Our Green values oblige us to support popular movements for peace and demilitarization in Israel-Palestine, especially those that reach across the lines of conflict to engage both Palestinians and Israelis of good will.
a. We reaffirm the right of self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis, which precludes the self-determination of one at the expense of the other. We recognize the historical and contemporary cultural diversity of Israeli-Palestinian society, including the religious heritage of Jews, Christians, Muslims and others. This is a significant part of the rich cultural legacy of all these peoples and it must be respected. To ensure this, we support equality before international law rather than appeals to religious faith as the fair basis on which claims to the land of Palestine-Israel are resolved.
b. We recognize that Jewish insecurity and fear of non-Jews is understandable in light of Jewish history of horrific oppression in Europe. However, we oppose as both discriminatory and ultimately self-defeating the position that Jews would be fundamentally threatened by the implementation of full rights to Palestinian-Israelis and Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes. As U.S. Greens, we refuse to impose our views on the people of the region. Still, we would turn the U.S. government towards a new policy, which itself recognizes the equality, humanity, and civil rights of Jews, Muslims, Christians, and all others who live in the region, and which seeks to build confidence in prospects for secular democracy.
c. We reaffirm the right and feasibility of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel. We acknowledge the significant challenges of equity and restitution this policy would encounter and call on the U.S. government to make resolution of these challenges a central goal of our diplomacy in the region.
d. We reject U.S. unbalanced financial and military support of Israel while Israel occupies Palestinian lands and maintains an apartheid-like system in both the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel toward its non-Jewish citizens. Therefore, we call on the U.S. President and Congress to suspend all military and foreign aid, including loans and grants, to Israel until Israel withdraws from the Occupied Territories, dismantles the separation wall in the Occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, ends its siege of Gaza and its apartheid-like system both within the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel toward its non-Jewish citizens.
e. We also reject U.S. political support for Israel and demand that the U.S. government end its veto of Security Council resolutions pertaining to Israel. We urge our government to join with the U.N. to secure Israel's complete withdrawal to the 1967 boundaries and its compliance with international law.
f. We support a much stronger and supportive U.S. position with respect to all United Nations, European Union, and Arab League initiatives that seek a negotiated peace. We call for an immediate U.N.-sponsored, multinational peacekeeping and protection force in the Palestinian territories with the mandate to initiate a conflict-resolution commission.
g. We call on the foreign and military affairs committees of the U.S. House and Senate to conduct full hearings on the status of human rights and war crimes in Palestine-Israel, especially violations committed during Israel's 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza ("Operation Cast Lead") as documented in the 2009 "UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict" ("The Goldstone Report") authorized by the UN Commission on Human Rights.
h. We recognize that despite decades of continuous diplomatic attempts by the international community, it has failed to bring about Israel's compliance with international law or respect for basic Palestinian human rights; and that, despite abundant condemnation of Israel's policies by the UN, International Court of Justice, and all relevant international conventions, the international community of nations has failed to stop Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights in Israel and the OPT, while Israeli crimes continue with impunity. We recall that ending institutionalized racism (apartheid) in South Africa demanded an unusual, cooperative action by the entire international community in the form of a boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against apartheid South Africa, and that BDS can become the most effective nonviolent means for achieving justice and genuine peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and for the region, through concerted international pressure as applied to apartheid South Africa; and that Palestinian resistance to ongoing dispossession has mainly been nonviolent, including its most basic form – remaining in their homes, on their land; and that while Palestinian armed resistance is legitimate under international law when directed at non-civilian targets, we believe that only nonviolent resistance will maintain the humanity of Palestinian society, elicit the greatest solidarity from others, and maximize the chance for future reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. However, we also recognize that our appeal to Palestinians to continue to resist nonviolently in the face of ongoing existential threats from Israel is hypocritical unless accompanied by substantial acts of international support. We recall that in 2005, Palestinian Civil Society appealed to the international community to support a BDS campaign against Israel, and that in response the Green Party of the US endorsed this BDS campaign in 2005. Therefore, we support the implementation of boycott and divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era, which includes pressuring our government to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel; and we support maintaining these nonviolent punitive measures until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Palestinian lands and dismantling the Wall in the West Bank;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
i. We recognize that international opinion has been committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet, we view the two-state solution as neither democratic nor viable in the face of international law, material conditions and "facts on the ground" that now exist in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Given this reality, we support a U.S. foreign policy that promotes the creation of one secular, democratic state for Palestinians and Israelis on the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan as the national home of both peoples, with Jerusalem as its capital. We encourage a new U.S. diplomatic initiative to begin the long process of negotiation, laying the groundwork for such a single-state constitution.
j. We recognize that such a state might take many forms and that the eventual model chosen must be decided by the peoples themselves. We also acknowledge the enormous hostilities that now exist between the two peoples, but history tells us that these are not insurmountable among people genuinely seeking peace.
k. As an integral part of peace negotiations and the transition to peaceful democracy, we call for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose inaugurating action would be mutual acknowledgement by Israelis and Palestinians that they have the same basic rights, including the right to exist in the same, secure place.
Please hear what Dr. Haidar Eid, professor at Al Aqsa University in Gaza has to say about the recent Chomsky visit and the recent airstrikes on Gaza, the visit of the Emir of Qatar, the limitations of the two state solution, the BDS movement, and his commitment to the one democratic state principle. This is the first web-based interview of the Voice of Palestine, the Voice of the Palestinian People ( link to voiceofpalestine.ca) with host Hanna Kawas.
link to voiceofpalestine.ca
link to tinyurl.com
Thank you Annie,
As you can probably tell, I am a strong supporter of both the Palestinian global and academic/cultural boycott (PACBI) of Israel.
Here is a useful link to the Alternative Information Center’s 64-page 2009 booklet on the Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in the Occupied Territories. I include it here because Chomsky seems hesitant to endorse the tactic the Palestinian people have asked us to promote.
link to usacbi.files.wordpress.com
On page 40-41, (number 23) they list reasons (with documentation) to boycott Tel-Aviv University:
T-A U takes pride in having conducted 55 research projects with the Israeli army.
T-A U hosts a convention about weapons’ development for the Israeli army.
T-A U hosts a convention, part of which directly deals with weapons’ development for the Israeli army.
T-A U is a sponsor of the Psagot academic reserve program.
T-A U is located on the destroyed Palestinian village of Sheikh Muwanis, whose residents have been deported, and has never recognized this fact.
T-A U appointed a military colonel whose military past includes overseeing and approving military attacks on civilians during the 2008 Gaza attacks, to a lecturer on international law.
The Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel is not directed at individual Israeli scholars but is directed at institutions. Readers can view UCLA history professor Robin D. G. Kelley’s Mondoweiss interview on the necessity of academic boycott. He is a board member of the U.S. Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).
link to mondoweiss.net
link to tinyurl.com
Thank you Annie. I'd certainly like to know what the other speakers had to say both about him and about the appropriate "solution." I'd like to know more on how Chomsky was chosen to be the keynote speaker. As he's a famous linguist, I can almost understand it, but he used the occasion to promote his own political views and his views are widely known. I think it just scares me! I cannot help but ask myself, what is going on, who is behind this?
I resent that Chomsky is telling the Palestinians what the international consensus is for a solution- as if that mattered - and is highly questionable at that. The issue is human rights and that is something the Palestinians demand and the so-called international community should support. As Palestinian human rights activists, we have no right to compromise for them. Didn't Chomsky pull out of the Gaza Freedom March along with Finkelstein because the Palestinians in Gaza wanted wording in reference to decades of dispossession in the mission statement? In other words, Gaza is but a chapter in Israel's on-going oppression of the indigenous people of the land. Isn't that typical, Americans (sorry, I have to say this) American Jews at that telling the Palestinians how to hold their own non-violent resistance? With friends like these...(Excuse me while I get my finger out of my mouth...)
I find it curious how Greta managed to hide her "racism" and "hatred" so well for decades, working closely with hundreds of intelligent and accomplished people. Could something else be at play here?
Remember, the Reut Institute calls for "sabotage and attack" of human rights activists like us. I think we should take a closer look and not be so quick to judge. Ask ourselves "who profits?" and connect the dots.
"I am sorry that in writing about a real problem, I used Greta Berlin as the example around which my thesis was built. With her new statement, I now understand that my reading of her earlier comments was absolutely inaccurate." and "For me, however, as one of the writers who has positively slammed her in the past few days, Berlin’s fresh statement is enough: She has said unequivocally that her intent in sharing that deeply disturbing video was not to support its content.- Emily Hauser, American-Israeli writer, the Daily Beast link to tinyurl.com
Petition: AIPAC must register as a Foreign Agent
link to tinyurl.com
link to thepetitionsite.com
The "progressive-left" J-Street rabbi in our community promotes this sham - straight from the "Israel 101" handbook in a desperate attempt to neutralize advocacy for Palestinian refugee right of return and to induce "compassion" for the suffering on both sides.
Please excuse me while I get my finger out of my mouth.
Petition: AIPAC MUST REGISTER AS FOREIGN AGENT!
link to thepetitionsite.com
link to tinyurl.com
Petition: AIPAC MUST REGISTER AS FOREIGN AGENT!
link to thepetitionsite.com
link to tinyurl.com
Roha, did we wait for the white supremacists of the Jim Crow south to have a change of heart? Did MLK, eloquent preacher he was, stay in the church, hold hands, and sing Kumbyah? What did it take? MLK was quite uncompromising when it came to advocating equal rights for his people - our people. Please study the history of boycotts and strikes in this county's Civil Rights struggle and read MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
"The Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice."
For what it's worth, I had bumper stickers made promoting your book, Judaism Does Not Equal Israel. Would love to have you speak in Eugene, perhaps at the University of Oregon. Al-Nakba Awareness Project has hosted many human rights-based speakers and we promote the right of return with the vision of a one democratic state. I look forward to your posts.
The Israeli organization, Zochrot, works with Badil and has given presentations on how the right of return could be fairly implemented. link to tinyurl.com Here is a link to a Register Guard guest opinion written by Eitan Bronstein (Zochrot) and Mohammed Jaradat (Badil) link to imeu.net
Just what the Palestinians need, an an American Jew telling them how to advocate for their human rights.
Marc Ellis, professor of Jewish Studies at Baylor University states in his book, Judaism does not Equal Israel, "The progressive Jewish two-state option is too limited, has become dishonest, and is discredited - it is simply a cover for power."
And didn't Ben-Ami say the main difference between J Street and AIPAC is that J Street has different priorities rather than different views?
J Street hosted Olmert at their DC conference. ( link to tinyurl.com )
The January 2012 issue of the Lane County Jewish Federation Newsletter, (link to jewishfedlc.org) page 7 advertises a local event as such: J-Street and AIPAC will present how each organization supports Israel "Come find out how both groups are walking different paths to the same goal."
J Street Field Director Carinne Luck stated in this Jewish Review piece on one of Eugene, Oregon's J Street events: "...J Street is more often lobbying on the same side as AIPAC..." link to tinyurl.com
Yes, since young American Jews are opting out (link to tinyurl.com) (and this survey was done before Operation Cast Lead and the Mavi Marmara massacre) perhaps "we all need to go somewhere where we fear to tread." Perhaps what is needed is for more American Jews to "come out" in support of Palestinian human rights - the Palestinian civil society call for non-violence in the form of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, including the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
Hostage,
Please stay on topic. I'm talking about those Arab/Muslims who allow themselves to be positioned as the “moderate” voice and sole representatives of the Palestinian people in their communities. By doing so they obstruct advocacy for the right of return, BDS, and the vision of a one democratic state. And I gave an example of this. They function to rubber stamp the " progressive Zionist" positions such as J Street's. Again, it only takes one or two in each community to effectively obstruct BDS advocacy.
A few years back a piece in our Jewish Federation newsletter bragged how both dialogue was used to neutralize local Presbyterian efforts for divestment and right after Cast Lead to neutralize education and mobilization for Palestinian human rights at the university with the students.
Annie,
What would you think about a Palestinian/Arab/Muslim who accepts the community's "peace-builder award" in a well-attended ceremony at the "progressive" synagogue nominated by the very rabbi who has organized and written against pro-Palestinian activists and speakers like Ali Abunimah? Or for that matter, the Christian pastor he works with along with these rabbis at the Interfaith Service and dialogue who gave a sermon one Sunday slamming the one democratic state solution and promoting J Street? This very pastor declined to host one of Sabeel's noted speakers, Mark Braverman, because MB had signed a statement supporting a one democratic state. "Dialogue" is misused as a strategy to eviscerate potential support for BDS.
BTW, this rabbi and other local/regional rabbis signed the statement against Methodist divestment.
I have much documentation on this in my community and state. I'm glad others are beginning to write about this problem also. Pls. see link to ikhras.com
I suspect church leaders did not want to offend the rabbis they have worked together with for decades on "Interfaith Dialogue." You'll hear no support for BDS from Palestinian Arab/Muslims who participate in this either. Community leaders including rabbis will always position those Arab/Muslims as the "moderates" and sole representatives of the Palestinian people. It just takes one or two in every town to effectively obstruct human rights advocacy by "extremists" promoting the right of return, BDS, or a one democratic state.
I couldn't help myself. I donated $20 I can ill afford, thanked her for her work on Palestinian human rights, and speaking out against AIPAC. And told her J Street is no better.
J Street is strongly opposed to a One Democratic State and works to suppress support for that possibility.
I cannot help but wonder if any of these IDF soldiers have duel American citizenship. I recall that on Aug. 16, 104 immigrating 18- to 22-year-old Americans arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport to enlist in the Israel “Defense” Force. Will they, too, attack and shoot non-violent American human rights activists on Israeli command? Or spy on Americans if/when they return?
JFK said the same thing: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Last July, I petitioned our Eugene Human Rights Commission to draft a strong statement condemning the flotilla massacre. Since I had to limit my time to 3 minutes, I also gave them a stack of informational resources so they would have most everything they would need to write such a statement.
The local Israel Defense Network found out and wrote about it here, pg. 10:
link to jewishfedlc.org
(Justice advocacy is not for the faint of heart...)
Of course the meeting was indeed flooded by pro-Israel lobbyists and all comments strongly condemned the EHRC proposed statement with the J Street representative heading the lineup. Deceptively sweet, reasonable-sounding J Street advocates represent one of our biggest obstacles to effective justice advocacy in Eugene, Oregon and I suspect throughout the U.S. Their (in my opinion, racist) concerns focus on preserving Jewish majority in Israel and institutionalizing segregation in the two-state model, which would forever abrogate the right of return for Palestinians. The R-O-R would then be confined to that Israeli-approved entity. I cannot even bring myself to call it a state. J Street is not about human rights, freedom, justice or equality.
The EHRC meeting was all quite disgusting. Here is the Register Guard write-up of the event:
link to tinyurl.com
Please wish us luck as the struggle continues.
Most people here probably know there are Jewish organizations which do support Palestinian human rights. One of my favorites is the IJAN. Here are their points of unity for those new to the issue or this blog. Compare this to J Street.
Points of Unity link to ijsn.net
While we all come from diverse organizing and activist experiences, and have diverse relationships to our Jewish histories and identities, we share the following points of unity:
* Solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian self-determination, including full political, economic, cultural, social and land rights for all those living in the historic Palestine, and the right of return for its refugees;
* Rejection of the Israeli apartheid state, premised on Jewish supremacy and Zionist ideology, and support for all struggles for legal and economic equality against it;
* Support for the building of just societies in historic Palestine, the larger region, and the other places in which we live;
* A commitment to the values of democratic self-determination, social justice and solidarity, gender equality and cultural rights, and to assert the same values in our own organizing and political practice;
* Commitment to the call from Palestine for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel;
* Challenging the current use of Islamophobia as a strategy for defending and justifying an imperialist US-European agenda;
* Challenging white racism, including its manifestations as Ashkenazi racism against Mizrahi Jews;
* Challenging the privileging of Jewish voices in conversations and negotiations about Palestine;
* Rejection of the ways in which the Zionist movement and Western governments exploit the Nazi holocaust to justify the historic and current actions of the State of Israel; and
* Rejection of alliances with anti-Jewish racists, white supremacist and Nazi holocaust deniers in our Palestinian solidarity work.
J Street is just another Israel lobby group designed to appeal to the so-called "progressive" left as good cop to the bad. Their major concern is loss of Jewish majority. In no way are they to be considered a Palestinian solidarity organization.
There are Jewish human rights-based alternatives to J Street. The International Jewish Anti--Zionist Network lists the right of return for the Palestinian refugees in their first point of unity.
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network IJAN
link to ijsn.net
Points of Unity
While we all come from diverse organizing and activist experiences, and have diverse relationships to our Jewish histories and identities, we share the following points of unity:
* Solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian self-determination, including full political, economic, cultural, social and land rights for all those living in the historic Palestine, and the right of return for its refugees;
* Rejection of the Israeli apartheid state, premised on Jewish supremacy and Zionist ideology, and support for all struggles for legal and economic equality against it;
* Support for the building of just societies in historic Palestine, the larger region, and the other places in which we live;
* A commitment to the values of democratic self-determination, social justice and solidarity, gender equality and cultural rights, and to assert the same values in our own organizing and political practice;
* Commitment to the call from Palestine for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel;
* Challenging the current use of Islamophobia as a strategy for defending and justifying an imperialist US-European agenda;
* Challenging white racism, including its manifestations as Ashkenazi racism against Mizrahi Jews;
* Challenging the privileging of Jewish voices in conversations and negotiations about Palestine;
* Rejection of the ways in which the Zionist movement and Western governments exploit the Nazi holocaust to justify the historic and current actions of the State of Israel; and
* Rejection of alliances with anti-Jewish racists, white supremacist and Nazi holocaust deniers in our Palestinian solidarity work.