The Chicago chapter of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network congratulates the Berkeley student senate for voting to divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. We encourage the Senate to vote tonight to overturn the president's veto.  (read more...)

Bay IJAN joined with other organizations to take part in the action reported below and also in Aljazeera news (see below).

SF Activists Protest Hebron closures

by anon.
Friday Feb 26th, 2010 11:04 AM

On a normal Thursday evening, a group of protesters transformed San Francisco's busiest shopping district into a scene which reflected the realities of Palestinian life in Hebron in the West Bank.  (read more...)

An exciting public event took place in San Francisco on January 28, 2010 as part of the “Never Again for Anyone” tour initiative which launched the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network’s Remembrance Campaign. A good turnout of people came to see the video presentations of the tour’s speakers in Europe - Haidar Eid and Hayo Meyer and a moving speak out followed. Everyone in the room offered thoughtful and wide ranging contributions to the topics presented: a Palestinian man described growing up in Palestine and how he and his sister had been shot a number of times by Israeli soldiers. Other participants, the majority Jewish people, spoke about their experiences challenging Zionism and how the pretext of antisemitism is used to silence, about historic events, the misuse of the holocaust, connecting the violence of the holocaust with other mass violence against people and what can we now do.

 Meeting organizers used a power point of Hayo Meyer’s and publicity from the tour in Europe to give key points in his presentation, as due to technical difficulties, we were not able to get the film in time to show it. A viewing of the presentation is being rescheduled for people to see and to continue with the groundbreaking Remembrance Campaign to break with the exceptionalism of and false way the holocaust is presented and to connect with people around the world who have also faced and continue to face genocide.

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Join us to commemorate one year since the Israeli attack on Gaza. As part of the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza the Gaza Freedom March, Bay Area – needs your help to break the inhumane siege, which has been in place since 2007.   Although the Israeli tanks have left, attacks still occur – while the complete siege and closure of the borders continue.

Gaza Memorial, Interfaith Service

Sunday, December 27, 2009
4-6pm
Union Square, San Francisco

Candlelight Vigil to remember the 1,400 men, women and children killed in the attack on Gaza. Dec. 27 will mark the first anniversary of the Israeli attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza Freedom March

Thursday, December 31, 2009
12-2pm
Golden Gate Bridge

Park and meet at south end of the bridge parking lot and march together across the bridge. We will end the year by marching alongside the Palestinian people of Gaza in a non-violent demonstration that breaches the illegal blockade.

Click "Read More" for the list of sponsors.

 

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It’s been a busy time for Bay Area IJAN this fall. In September/October we celebrated IJAN’s first anniversary with some successful action and reflection. An action took place at a Trader Joe’s store on September 27 in Oakland, calling on the store to deshelve their Israeli products. About 25 of us went into the store, and talked and gave out information to shoppers and workers, calling attention to the Israeli goods in the store. We took over the front of the store for a good while and spoke out making our case as Jewish people why we supported a boycott of Israeli goods. We presented a letter to the store manager asking the store to join the international boycott campaign. Bay IJAN also had a first anniversary tachlich event and dinner to reflect on the past year and renew our commitment to working on Palestine liberation.

IJAN was involved in planning with others and taking part in a quickly pulled together and very effective action to protest former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaking October 22 at the World Affairs Council of San Francisco as part of a US tour. A Bay IJAN member disrupted Olmert’s speech and got arrested with 21 other people shouting every time he spoke in the meeting, while a number of us protested outside the hotel with about 250 people furious that a war criminal had been invited to speak. A good Associated Press article on the protests was published in two Bay Area newspapers.

There was a benefit event the following day for three groups one of which was IJAN, with the release of a new “Celebrate People’s History” poster honoring Jewish involvement in anti-colonial struggles. The poster highlights Matzpen, the first anti-Zionist organization in Israel which included Palestinians and Jews. See poster below and at this link. http://www.justseeds.org/celebrate_peoples_history/02matzpen.html

Matzpen CPH Poster Released

A new Celebrate People's History poster has just come out: Matzpen by Joshua Kahn Russell and Dan Berger.

Bay IJAN is evaluating our next steps in local organizing as we move into our second year.

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Twenty-two activists were arrested at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's speech to the World Affairs Council on 22 October between 6:30 and 7:30pm at the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square in San Francisco. Inside the auditorium, activists began disrupting the event by placing Olmert under citizens arrest. Every couple of minutes, more activists disrupted his speech, barely allowing him to speak, by reading the names of the children killed in Gaza last winter, reading from the recently published Goldstone report and displaying banners that read "Lift the Siege on Gaza" and "War Crimes are Not Free Expression!" Activists were removed from the auditorium chanting "war criminal!" and taken to the Tenderloin Police Station where they are being held for citation. Ten additional persons participated in the action but were not arrested.

Olmert ordered Israel's brutal attacks on Gaza beginning in late December 2008, code-named Operation Cast Lead. Last week, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution endorsing the Goldstone report, an independent investigation into the Gaza operation, which found that Israel violated international law and possibly committed crimes against humanity.

"Israel is an apartheid state guilty of war crimes and its leaders should not be welcome in San Francisco," said Lisa Nessan, a Jewish resident of Oakland, who has traveled several times to Israel and Palestine, most recently in May. "For the past 60 years, under leadership like Olmert's, Israel has denied Palestinians their basic human rights, built settlements on their lands, and killed civilians -- all to force them from their homeland."

A lively protest also gathered across from the hotel in Union Square, where about 150 persons carried signs bearing the names and pictures of children killed during Operation Cast Lead. Olmert is making several appearances in the US this month, and has been met with strong protests at locations including the University of Chicago and Tulane University in New Orleans. "We join with people around the world who believe that Israel and its leaders must be held accountable for their actions. Israel killed 1,400 people during its attacks on Gaza last winter alone, and many more have died or suffered from the effects of siege, occupation, and apartheid on their daily lives," said Monadel Herzallah, a Palestinian activist who lives in Fairfield and whose 21-year-old cousin was killed in Gaza in January.

Organizers also expressed outrage that US President Barack Obama has ignored the findings of the Goldstone report. The US has pledged more than $3 billion each year in unrestricted aid to Israel. "Israel's use of US aid and military equipment violates our own laws," said Rae Abileah, an organizer with CODEPINK whose father is Israeli. "Why are we giving aid to a country that is destroying people's homes and attacking civilians, while our own nation is struggling with unemployment and underfunded social services?"

Eduardo Cohen of San Francisco sums up the sentiment: "The war crimes in the Goldstone Report are not an exception, but a reminder that Israel's apartheid law is itself criminal. We must not only hold Olmert accountable, but all of Israel's leaders, our own elected officials, and other companies and individuals that profit from these crimes. Only then can true justice be reached."

The protest was sponsored by: Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid (BACEIA), CODEPINK Women for Peace, Friends of Deiribzi'a, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), Northern California International Solidarity Movement, Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA), South Bay Mobilization, Stop AIPAC, CAL Students for Justice in Palestine, US Palestine Communities Network (USPCN), Bay Area Women in Black.

Click here to read the article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Click here to watch the video produced by The Electronic Intifada.

Bay Area IJAN organized queer members and supporters in a powerful action during this year's massive San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade. We marched with Jews March for Pride, a Jewish contingent of the parade that was unfortunately, but not surprisingly, overrun by powerful Bay Area Zionist institutions.  (read more...)

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2009

 

SAN FRANCISCO – A group of nine activists – Palestinian, anti-Zionist Jewish, and immigrant rights activists – blocked the entrance of the Israeli Consulate beginning at 8:30am today, in nonviolent protest of Israeli apartheid and its current attacks on Gaza.  The activists chained themselves together using handcuffs and locks, locked the doors to the building, and were joined by a diverse rally of over 40 supporters.  The action was organized jointly by local Palestinians and Jews in support of: an immediate ceasefire; the opening of land, sea, and air borders to allow in emergency supplies; and an end to US financial and political support for Israel.

“For the past sixty years, Israel has tried to eliminate the Palestinian people by forcing them out of their homes and off their lands, starving them, and killing them,” said Maria Poblet, an immigrants’ rights organizer.  “The recent blockades and attacks in Gaza are not an exception, but a brutal reminder that killing civilians is a regular part of Israeli strategy.”   

Linked arm in arm, Bay Area Jews, Palestinians and social-justice activists aim to increase pressure on Israel and its supporters in the face of the 21-day siege on Gaza and the growing humanitarian crisis.   All nine activists were arrested after about two hours, charged with trespassing, and allowed to leave.  This action is one in a series that has moved from Toronto, to New York, to Los Angeles.

Organizers assert that the current situation in Gaza is not a conflict between two peoples of equivalent capacities, nor is Israel’s motive self-defense. “For the past year and a half, Israel has enacted strangling sanctions under the guise of targeting Hamas, collectively starving the entire population of food, water, medicine, and other vital resources,” stated Monadel Herzallah of the United States Palestinian Community Network. “The recent air and ground strikes are another brutal blow to Gazans who are already trapped in a concentration camp of despair and growing poverty.”

Activists also spoke out against the US pledge of more than $3 billion each year in unrestricted aid to Israel.  “Israel’s use of US aid and military equipment violates our own laws.  We can choose to uphold US and international laws, or ignore them as we are now doing at the peril of our conscience and our place among all of humanity,” said Nadeen Elshorafa of the General Union of Palestinian Students.

Organizer Sara Kershnar of the International Jewish anti-Zionist Network summed up the sentiment: “Today, as Palestinians, Jews, and our united allies, we make our position clear: we are on one side, the side of justice; Israel, an apartheid state, is on the other.”

Press Coverage (so far):

• San Francisco Chronicle
• ABC 7 / KGO-TV (video)
• KCBS (audio)
• KTVU
• KCBS
• CBS 5 / KPIX-TV (raw video)
• CBS 5
• IndyMedia  (and here) (and here) (and here)
• MondoWeiss
• Democracy Now! Headlines
• KPFA Living Room
• 3Arabawy
• Jews Sans Frontieres
• Monthly Review
• Community Labor News
• The Muslim News (UK)
• SFist
• Dream Not of Today
• Media Mouse
• Pirate Cat Radio

 

 

More photos available here.

Stay tuned for media coverage and video.

For more information about IJAN in the bay area, contact bay. .

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Three days of action took place in San Francisco this week, in response to Israel's bombing of the Gaza strip.  On Sunday December 28th, there was an emergency protest at Powell and Market that lasted for a couple hours.  About 200 people came with noisemakers, banners, signs and Palestinian flags.  Palestinian families joined the protest, and speakers were mostly young Palestinians speaking about the events in Gaza-two women performed spoken-word poetry.  The organizations that gathered that day included AROC, HOMEYS, IJAN, and Palestinian student groups, who also promoted the following day's rally.  Sara Kershnar from IJAN spoke out against the Zionist logic behind the bombing, saying, "they took the Jewish holiday Hanukah, a holiday of resistance, and turned it into a massacre of civillians."

On Monday evening, December 29th, a candlelight vigil took place at Market and Montgomery Streets in downtown San Francisco, outside Senator Diane Feinstein's office.  The vigil turned into spontaneous direct actions as hundreds of protesters blocked the streets and shut down rush hour traffic through downtown San Francisco, blocking the intersection for about two hours.  Protesters linked arms in the streets, chanting, "Free, Free, Palestine!  Stop Bombing Gaza!"   IJAN had a collective presence at the action: we participated in civil disobedience, shutting down the street, and supported the young Palestinian protesters who took the lead in actions.  Finally, the crowd formed a spontaneous march through downtown, passing through Union Square's busy streets of holiday shoppers, where there were more speak-outs.  The night culminated in a die-in on Market Street. The event was co-sponsored by Direct Action to Stop the War; the Middle East Children's Alliance; Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism; SF Women in Black; Break the Silence Mural Project; Global Exchange; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper; Beacon Presbyterian Fellowship; Jewish Voice for Peace - Bay Area; and the American Friends Service Committee SF Office.

On Tuesday, December 30th, protesters gathered in front of the Israeli consulate, where police tried to contain the crowd on the sidewalk next to the building, while directing Zionist demonstrators to the opposite side of the street.  However, the pro-Israeli group of about 50 was quickly overwhelmed by hundreds of boisterous pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who spilled out onto every sidewalk, finally pushing across police lines and entering into the streets.  The group chanted and danced in the street for about an hour, blocking the intersection of Montgomery and Sansome, and then mobilized for a march through downtown on Market Street, through Civic Center and into the Tenderloin.  The march was several blocks long, with perhaps 2000 people participating.  The demonstration was part of a national Day of Action called by the ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom, Free Palestine Alliance, National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda, International Palestine Right to Return Coalition.  (read more...)

On November 13, 2008, three Palestinian students at the University of California, Berkeley were attacked by members of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, an off-campus organization participating in an "Israeli Liberation Week" concert organized by the student group Tikvah.  These students hung two Palestinian flags off the balcony of a nearby building to protest the message of the event.  According to testimony, three members of ZFA approached the dissenting students, physically assaulting them and invoking ethnic slurs.  When the campus police arrived, they failed to charge all of the attacking students (only one was issued a citation), and subjected the victims of the attack to humiliation and harrassment.  The administration and media have largely portrayed the incident as a "clash" or "conflict" between two groups of students, rather than addressing it as an assault.  More information is available from IndyBay, the Daily Californian (note strong bias), and Dina Omar's statement.  

The Bay Area chapter of IJAN wrote an open letter to support the students who were attacked and to contextualize the violence within the structural violence of Zionism, racism, and colonialism.  

Other Palestine-solidarity and anti-racist organizations are invited to sign onto the letter -- please email for more information.  The full text of the letter is below.

 (read more...)

On Thursday, October 2nd, Bay Area members of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) gathered for a press conference and rally to announce IJAN's launch with a reading of the founding Charter.  The event was held in front of the East Bay Jewish Community Federation Building to confront and expose the role of Zionist institutions in perpetuating atrocities committed against Palestinian people.  (read more...)

A remarkable international panel broke new ground in the San Francisco Bay Area, Wednesday, July 30, 2008.   (read more...)

In response to Israel 's 60th anniversary celebrations, 20 Jewish activists were arrested, demonstrating Jewish opposition to Israel 's 60-year-old policy of dispossession, and highlighting the often-silenced struggle of Palestinian refugees. For over two hours, 20 Jewish activists disrupted San Francisco 's anniversary event, bunkering against the main atrium of the Jewish Community Center (JCC). In conjunction, over fifty Jewish and Palestinian supporters held a rally outside the center to call attention to ongoing Israeli policy of apartheid against the Palestinian population. With banners reading, "Jews in Solidarity with 60+ years of Palestinian Resistance," activists declared anniversary, "No Time to Celebrate."  (read more...)