This session began with remarks by James Finley, who introduced the four topics featured in PUFP's October session: capitalism, militarism, and incarceration. Participants unpacked these terms in four working groups, exploring the ways in which these forces are at play both in Palestine and in Texas. 

The discussions, as expected, ranged widely and went deep, and are difficult to summarize. The capitalism group addressed lies, trust, promises, and the exploitation and violence at the heart of profit-making and extraction. Conversations about militarism addressed San Antonio’s status as “Military City” and its sister-city relationship with Tel Aviv, and how capitalism and policing draw strength from and further enforce militarism. The borders group focused on violence and migration, and similarities between the militarized border with Mexico and apartheid in Palestine. Discussions of policing drew international connections that traced policing’s investments in profiling, dehumanization, and protection of property, as well as examples of resistance and solidarity, from Palestinians’ providing support for BLM protestors, to student encampments, to struggles against cop cities.