The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is opposed to racism, colonialism and imperialism and to racist Zionism in particular (see: http://www.ijsn.net/home/ ).
The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is opposed to racism, colonialism and imperialism and to racist Zionism in particular (see: http://www.ijsn.net/home/ ).
The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) to the Tayyar International Conference, 2009: “The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is a growing network of Jews whose identities are not based on Zionism but on long histories of Jewish participation in liberation struggles from Eastern Europe and Iraq to Brooklyn. IJAN's solidarity with this conference reflects our commitment to these legacies and to our participation in current struggles against racism, colonization, and imperialism. Central to this commitment is solidarity with Arab liberation struggles against US imperialism and Zionism.” [1].
The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) re the pro-Zionist US Alliance and Israeli attempts to derail the anti-racism Durban Conferecne , April 2009: “We are appalled by the concerted effort, led by Israeli officials, Zionist organizations and apologists, to derail the Durban Review Conference. We condemn the use of the memory of the Nazi genocide, as Jewish organizations did during the Durban Review week, in the defense of Israel's systematic domination and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians … It is beyond obvious to us that a conference about racism, and especially a conference that seeks to address the legacy of colonial oppression, must discuss Israel, since Israel is a settler-colonial state that systematically oppresses and denies basic human rights to millions of Palestinians. Israel's attempt to derail this important conference in order to avoid being examined and called to account is an affront against all the victims of racism all over the world, including the six million Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide. “ [1].
Letter published in March 2011 by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network that endorses the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. The letter was issued in response to a February 15 statement by Zionist (pro-Israel) groups that said the BDS campaign was anti-Semitic and “antithetical to freedom of speech”:
LETTER: "Because academic, cultural and commercial boycotts, divestments and sanctions of Israel:
• are being called for by Palestinian civil society in response to the occupation and colonisation of their land,
• are a moral tool of non-violent, peaceful response to more than sixty years of Israeli colonialism,
• and, rightfully place accountability on Israeli institutions (and their allies and partners) that use business, cultural, and academic ties to white-wash Israel’s responsibility for continuing crimes against humanity,
The undersigned organisations and individuals stand firm in our support of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) initiatives against Israel until it meets its obligation to recognise the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law.
BDS is not anti-Semitic
We reject the notion that the 2005 BDS call from Palestine, and the BDS campaigns the world over which it has inspired, are rooted in anti-Jewish sentiment.
On the contrary, BDS is an anti-racist movement against the daily, brutal occupation of Palestine and military threat to the region by the state of Israel.
False claims of anti-Semitism distort the true nature of the Palestinian struggle and are an affront to, and betrayal of, the long history of Jewish survival and resistance to persecution.
BDS is not anti-democratic
We also reject the assertion that the cultural and academic boycotts of Israel defy the democratic principle of free speech.
Research and development in academic institutions play a central role in designing and defending Israel’s military and intelligence machinery.
Cultural institutions perpetuate the deception of Israeli democracy. To defend freedom of speech for those who disregard justice while demonising those who struggle for justice is a great disservice to genuine democracy.
Through boycott, divestment and sanctions, civil society asserts our commitment to not contribute to the Israeli state, which is responsible for atrocious acts of disregard for human life and well being.
Attacks against BDS campaigns will not prevent us from taking this stance against Israeli impunity.
For the Jewish organisations signed onto this letter, self-determination for Jews includes the right to participate in the movement for justice in Palestine and to live in the world with our fellow citizens in peace, freedom, and equity.
It does not include the domination and colonisation of other people or living separate from our fellow human beings in a state that privileges Jews.
BDS was a key strategy in ending the white South African system of apartheid by applying international pressure.
In pursuit of justice, peace and freedom for all, we speak out as Jews committed to BDS and Palestinian liberation.
• International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
• Not In Our Name (Argentina)
• Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in Middle East (EJJP, Germany)
• Not in Our Name: Jews Opposing Zionism (Canada)
• Jews for a Just Peace (Fredericton, Canada)
• Independent Jewish Voice (Canada)
• Middle East Children's Alliance (USA)
• Critical Jewish Voice (Austria)
• Women in Black (Austria)
• French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP)
• Bay Area Women in Black (USA)
• St. Louis Women in Black (USA)
• Philadelphia Jews for a Just Peace (USA)
• American Jews for a Just Peace (USA)
• Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (Britain)
• JUNTS, Catalan Association of Jews and Palestinians, Spain)
• Ronnie Kasrils, former South African government minister, writer, founder Not In My Name, South Africa
• Antony Loewenstein, Independent Australian Jewish Voices
• Peter Slezak, Independent Australian Jewish Voices
• Moshe Machover, Professor (emeritus) (UK), founder Matzpen
• Felicia Langer, Israeli lawyer, author, Right Livelihood Award 2006 (Alternative Nobel Prize) 1990, Bruno Kreisky Prize 1991
• Mieciu Langer, Nazi Holocaust survivor
• Hedy Epstein, Nazi Holocaust survivor
• Hajo G. Meyer PhD, Nazi Holocaust survivor
• Kamal Chenoy, IJAN India & The All India Peace and Solidarity Organization
• Paola Canarutto & Giorgio Forti, Rete ECO, Italy
• Liliane Cordova Kaczerginski, IJAN France
• Sonia Fayman, IJAN France & UJFP
• Ernesto Rosenberg, GRAMARPAL (Argentine-Palestinian Friendship Group, Neuquen, Argentina)
• Mark Elf, blogger, Jews sans Frontieres. " END LETTER & SIGNATORIES. [2].
[1]. The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) home page: http://www.ijsn.net/home/ .
[2]. “Jewish groups defend Israel boycott”, Green Left Weekly, 10 April 2011: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/47299 .
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) describes itself thus on its website: “IJAN is an international network of Jews who are uncompromisingly committed to struggles for human survival and emancipation, of which the liberation of the Palestinian people and land is an indispensable part. We are committed to the right of return for Palestinian refugees and to ending Israeli colonization of historic Palestine, which is reinforced by US economic and military power. We support full Palestinian self-determination and the right to resist occupation. We look to the Palestinian grassroots and Palestinian-led organizations as our primary points of reference in this struggle. The State of Israel betrays the long histories of Jewish struggles for liberation and traditions of participation in collective struggles for liberation more broadly. We protest Zionism’s exploitation and debasement of histories of Jewish persecution and genocide to justify the unjustifiable – the colonization of Palestine and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the theft of their land and destruction of their families, communities and way of life. IJAN is part of the international movement against Zionist militarism and repression. We have active chapters in the United States, Argentina, the UK, Spain, Canada, and France… IJAN organizes from a Jewish location, which we understand as social and historical, but our members hold a range of relationships to the religious, spiritual, and cultural expressions of Judaism. IJAN’s members come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and cultural lineages (including Ashkenazi, Mizrahi and Sephardic)” (The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN): http://www.ijan.org/who-we-are/ ).