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BrownTown invites Rabbi Brant Rosen and Lesley Williams of Tzedek Chicago, a proudly anti-Zionist intentional Jewish congregation based on core values of justice, equity, and solidarity. In this installment, they discuss this current moment in the struggle to Free Palestine with special regards to Brant and Lesley's positionality as Jewish faith leaders and scholars. The gang distinguishes "anti-Zionism" from "anti-Semitism", discusses AIPAC's consistent meddling in US elections, the strategy behind ceasefire resolutions, the work of Palestinian and other scholars writing in solidarity, and more! Ultimately, BrownTown and guests uplift the work in the past 11 months (and beyond) while trying to answer what real solidarity looks like and how to reclaim Judaism from Zionism. #FreePalestine. Originally recorded August 12, 2024, a week before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. GUESTSBrant Rosen is the founding rabbi of the congregation Tzedek Chicago and the co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council. His writings have appeared in many journals and publications, including Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, The Nation, and Truthout. He is also the author of the popular Jewish social justice blog, Shalom Rav; his curated collection of blog posts and reader comments, Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi's Path to Palestinian Solidarity was published by Just World Books in 2012 (updated in 2017). In 2020, he was named as a Topol Fellow in Conflict and Peace in the Religion, Conflict and Public Life Institute at Harvard Divinity School. Follow Brant on his blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.Lesley Williams has organized around anti-racism, Islamophobia and Palestinian rights for Jewish Voice for Peace in Chicago and served on the national board of Jewish Voice for Peace Action. As part of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Lesley participated in two solidarity and resistance West Bank delegations with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists and is on the CJNV strategies and values team. She has spoken on Islamophobia and antisemitism at the American Studies Association conference, Democratic Socialists of America, the MAS-ICNA conference the American Muslims for Palestine conference, and at several universities and church groups, and recently appeared on the Friends of Sabeel program: Countering Christian Zionism. She is a consultant and speaker for the PARCEO "Antisemitism From a Framework of Collective Liberation" curriculum. She reviews books on race, Islamophobia and Palestine for Booklist magazine, and her writing has appeared in Truthout, Mondoweiss and AWBC Magazine. Follow Lesley on her blog, Facebook, and Instagram.Follow Jewish Voice for Peace on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; Jewish Voice for Peace Action on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Follow Tzedek Chicago on Facebook and Instagram.--Writings by Lesley:To be Black and Jewish after CharlottesvilleThe Anti-Defamation League Kills the Black/Jewish AllianceWe Cannot Fight Anti-Semitism and Anti-Black Racism in IsolationWhite Jews: deal with your privilege and call out Jewish support for white supremacyMessage to my white Jewish friends: I feel no more fear and rage after Pittsburgh than I feel every day as a black person in this countryThis is NOT What America Looks LikeWritings by Brant:Zionism and the Quest for Peace in the Holy LandOn Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for JusticeReclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation. Op-ed in support of Chicago's Ceasefire ResolutionAmid Israel's Brutality in Gaza, It's Time to Commit to Anti-ZionismProtesting Genocide at the DNC in Chicago: Beyond “One Issue”Mentioned Topics & More Info: Ep. 102 - Palestinian Liberation: In This Moment ft. Muhammad SankariHoda Katebi on holding your institutions accountableDrop The ADL CampaignInternational Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine - Webinar featuring Lesley and BrantPalestine Book AwardsBlack Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of ColorThe Message by Ta -Nehesi CoatesAIPAC be AIPAC'n (Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar)Gazans say "thank you" to American university encampmentsCeasefire Resolution in EvanstonJournalists Ghassan Kanafani and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic IntifadaWe Charge Genocide: 1951 and 2014--CREDITS: Intro soundbite from Brant Rosen at a Jewish Voice for Peace rally during the Democratic National Convention week. Outro song from Rap Street Palestine (Ard Kan3an & ana Palestine) cypher. Audio engineered by Kiera Battles.--Bourbon 'n BrownTownFacebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | PatreonSoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Support
This is a rich conversation Daniel and Jen had with Matthew Vega, a Black-Mexican theologian at the University of Chicago. Topics discussed during the conversation include an exploration of black theology, the history of black solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, and theodicy --how we can make sense of God's presence in the midst of immense suffering. The Speaker Matthew Vega is a PhD Candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity where he is researching theology, race, and class. You can follow him on IG @collegepopout. References mentioned during the conversation James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, and Black Theology and Black Power. Michael Fischbach, Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color. Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race Delores Williams, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/acrossthedivide/message
We are back to close out 2023 and continuing our discussions on Palestine, this time through the prism of the Civil Rights struggle in the United States. Professor Michael Fishbach joins us to discuss his 2019 book Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color. Professor Fishbach chronicles how Black Power activists and others in the Civil Rights struggle came to see Palestinians as a kindred people of color, waging the same struggle for freedom and justice as themselves. He brings his meticulous research to bear for a fascinating conversation about the Palestinian conflict's role in Black activism and the ways that the struggle shaped the domestic fight for racial equality, deeply affected U.S. black politics, and animating black visions of identity well into the late 1970s. About Dr. Michael Fischach Michael R. Fischbach is professor of history at Randolph-Macon College. Dr. Fischbach holds a PhD in History from Georgetown, MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown, and a BA in History from Northwestern University. He specializes in land issues relating to Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians and is the author of State, Society, and Land in Jordan, Records of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugee Property and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Jewish Property Claims Against Arab Countries, The Peace Process and Palestinian Refugee Claims: Addressing Claims for Property Compensation and Restitution, and two related works The Movement and the Middle East: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Divided the American Left, and the book we discussed: Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color.
Image: Malcolm X in 1964, w/ leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Dr. Ahmad Shukeiri. What we are witnessing, in this global moment, is not unprecedented, it is European modernity coming apart at its seams. The loosely tied myths that has kept it together are unraveling, delinking…but it intends to not go easily. The reverberating effect of it fits and fissures are being articulated in its violence. The contradictions are materialized through its human vessels, like a virus seeing its inevitable demise. It is with the unity of struggle, that we can inoculate the praxis of liberation, to ensure this time, as with times we struggled and continue to struggle collectively against imperialism and its attendant colonialism/s, chattel slavery, Apartheid, to follow in the tradition of resistance set before us. Today we look at a component of this unity of struggle…we pay attention to Black and Palestinian intersectional experiences with the violence of the colonial. When thinking about Black and Palestinian liberatory continuities we have plenty to explore, but a good place that we can find its most articulate expression is with Brother Malcolm [El Hajj Malik Shabazz]. As far back as the late 1950s Malcolm had been speaking out in international support of Palestinian liberation. According to Michael Fischbach, “several factors accounted for this. As a member of the Nation of Islam (NOI), Brother Malcolm felt a natural inclination to cultivate a kinship with other Muslims, including Arabs. Arabs had long been involved or in contact with the NOI, among them Jamil Shakir Diab, a Palestinian who immigrated to the United States in 1948 and taught Arabic at the NOI's University of Islam in Chicago. Of particular note in Malcolm's pro-Palestinian leanings were two visits he made to the Palestinians' homeland...He returned to Cairo and attended a press conference given by, Ahmad Shuqayri, the chair of the newly created Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), after which he published a scathing critique of Zionism titled “Zionist Logic” in Cairo's English language newspaper, the Egyptian Gazette” (Michael Fischbach, The New Left and the Arab-Israeli Conflict in the United States; Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color. Today, we explore Black and Palestine...its history, challenges, and opportunities with Ajamu Dillahunt and Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui. Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui is an assistant professor in the Department of History, Politics, and Social Justice at Winston-Salem State University. She has a PhD in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California (USC). She is currently working on her manuscript; Freedom is a Place: Black Self-Determination and Land-Based Struggles in the Lowcountry and Sea Islands. Dr. Siddiqui is also a valued member of the Africa World Now Project collective where she is a senior researcher and associate producer. Ajamu Amiri Dillahunt is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of History at Michigan State University. He is a member of Black Workers for Justice (BWFJ) and a board member with the Interreligious Foundation of Community Organizations (IFCO). He is also a former intern with the SNCC Digital Gateway Project at Duke University. In May of 2019, Ajamu graduated from North Carolina Central University with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Political Science. Ajamu also participated in the historic Demilitarize! Durham2Palestine Coalition. Our show was produced today in solidarity with the native/indigenous, African, and Afro-descended communities at Standing Rock; Venezuela; Cooperation Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi; Brazil; the Avalon Village in Detroit; Colombia; Kenya; Palestine; South Africa; Ghana and Ayiti; and other places who are fighting for the protection of our land for the benefit of all people. Listen intently. Think deeply. Act accordingly.
The first speech on the floor of Congress by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York breaks records for C-Span on Twitter. We hear these remarks from AOC and what more freshman members of Congress say about the government shutdown. And a new book by Michael R. Fischbach, Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color, digs into the roots of African American-Palestinian solidarity. If you enjoy our grassroots news show, which we provide free online, on podcast and on Pacifica stations and affiliates, please click here or click on the Patreon tab on this website to subscribe for as little as $3 a month. The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people's voices on the air, and by support from our listeners. In this new era of fake corporate news, we have to be and support our own media! Thank you! Subscribe on PatreonLike us on Facebook!Follow us on Twitter!
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the great animating foreign policy issues of the twenty-first century, one that provokes fierce divisions across the world. In the United States, the issue has become increasingly politicized in recent decades. While the conflict is not a strict binary issue, varying degrees and kinds of support for the Palestinians has become increasingly normalized among certain groups in the United States. One group that tends to profess sympathy with and support for Palestinians far more commonly than the average is African Americans. Links between the two groups are strong. For example, in 2016 Black Lives Matter released a statement critical of Israel; perhaps unsurprisingly, its use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” triggered a backlash among other progressive and Jewish-American groups. Michael Fischbach’s Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color(Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the history of African American ties to Palestine. Fischbach begins with Malcolm X’s interactions with Palestinians and his criticism of Zionism in the early 1960s. The writing of Frantz Fanon and others drew Black Power activists to Palestine, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s public statements on Israel. Fischbach uses the furor over that to illuminate the position of moderate groups such as the NAACP, supporters of Israel such as Bayard Rustin, and more radical groups such as the Black Panthers. Fischbach shows that despite pushback from Jewish-American groups, a consensus emerged that drew links between African Americans and Palestinians as people of color facing similar problems. Zeb Larson is a PhD Candidate in History at The Ohio State University. His research is about the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. To suggest a recent title or to contact him, please send an e-mail to zeb.larson@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the great animating foreign policy issues of the twenty-first century, one that provokes fierce divisions across the world. In the United States, the issue has become increasingly politicized in recent decades. While the conflict is not a strict binary issue, varying degrees and kinds of support for the Palestinians has become increasingly normalized among certain groups in the United States. One group that tends to profess sympathy with and support for Palestinians far more commonly than the average is African Americans. Links between the two groups are strong. For example, in 2016 Black Lives Matter released a statement critical of Israel; perhaps unsurprisingly, its use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” triggered a backlash among other progressive and Jewish-American groups. Michael Fischbach’s Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color(Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the history of African American ties to Palestine. Fischbach begins with Malcolm X’s interactions with Palestinians and his criticism of Zionism in the early 1960s. The writing of Frantz Fanon and others drew Black Power activists to Palestine, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s public statements on Israel. Fischbach uses the furor over that to illuminate the position of moderate groups such as the NAACP, supporters of Israel such as Bayard Rustin, and more radical groups such as the Black Panthers. Fischbach shows that despite pushback from Jewish-American groups, a consensus emerged that drew links between African Americans and Palestinians as people of color facing similar problems. Zeb Larson is a PhD Candidate in History at The Ohio State University. His research is about the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. To suggest a recent title or to contact him, please send an e-mail to zeb.larson@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the great animating foreign policy issues of the twenty-first century, one that provokes fierce divisions across the world. In the United States, the issue has become increasingly politicized in recent decades. While the conflict is not a strict binary issue, varying degrees and kinds of support for the Palestinians has become increasingly normalized among certain groups in the United States. One group that tends to profess sympathy with and support for Palestinians far more commonly than the average is African Americans. Links between the two groups are strong. For example, in 2016 Black Lives Matter released a statement critical of Israel; perhaps unsurprisingly, its use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” triggered a backlash among other progressive and Jewish-American groups. Michael Fischbach’s Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color(Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the history of African American ties to Palestine. Fischbach begins with Malcolm X’s interactions with Palestinians and his criticism of Zionism in the early 1960s. The writing of Frantz Fanon and others drew Black Power activists to Palestine, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s public statements on Israel. Fischbach uses the furor over that to illuminate the position of moderate groups such as the NAACP, supporters of Israel such as Bayard Rustin, and more radical groups such as the Black Panthers. Fischbach shows that despite pushback from Jewish-American groups, a consensus emerged that drew links between African Americans and Palestinians as people of color facing similar problems. Zeb Larson is a PhD Candidate in History at The Ohio State University. His research is about the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. To suggest a recent title or to contact him, please send an e-mail to zeb.larson@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the great animating foreign policy issues of the twenty-first century, one that provokes fierce divisions across the world. In the United States, the issue has become increasingly politicized in recent decades. While the conflict is not a strict binary issue, varying degrees and kinds of support for the Palestinians has become increasingly normalized among certain groups in the United States. One group that tends to profess sympathy with and support for Palestinians far more commonly than the average is African Americans. Links between the two groups are strong. For example, in 2016 Black Lives Matter released a statement critical of Israel; perhaps unsurprisingly, its use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” triggered a backlash among other progressive and Jewish-American groups. Michael Fischbach’s Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color(Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the history of African American ties to Palestine. Fischbach begins with Malcolm X’s interactions with Palestinians and his criticism of Zionism in the early 1960s. The writing of Frantz Fanon and others drew Black Power activists to Palestine, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s public statements on Israel. Fischbach uses the furor over that to illuminate the position of moderate groups such as the NAACP, supporters of Israel such as Bayard Rustin, and more radical groups such as the Black Panthers. Fischbach shows that despite pushback from Jewish-American groups, a consensus emerged that drew links between African Americans and Palestinians as people of color facing similar problems. Zeb Larson is a PhD Candidate in History at The Ohio State University. His research is about the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. To suggest a recent title or to contact him, please send an e-mail to zeb.larson@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the great animating foreign policy issues of the twenty-first century, one that provokes fierce divisions across the world. In the United States, the issue has become increasingly politicized in recent decades. While the conflict is not a strict binary issue, varying degrees and kinds of support for the Palestinians has become increasingly normalized among certain groups in the United States. One group that tends to profess sympathy with and support for Palestinians far more commonly than the average is African Americans. Links between the two groups are strong. For example, in 2016 Black Lives Matter released a statement critical of Israel; perhaps unsurprisingly, its use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” triggered a backlash among other progressive and Jewish-American groups. Michael Fischbach’s Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color(Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the history of African American ties to Palestine. Fischbach begins with Malcolm X’s interactions with Palestinians and his criticism of Zionism in the early 1960s. The writing of Frantz Fanon and others drew Black Power activists to Palestine, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s public statements on Israel. Fischbach uses the furor over that to illuminate the position of moderate groups such as the NAACP, supporters of Israel such as Bayard Rustin, and more radical groups such as the Black Panthers. Fischbach shows that despite pushback from Jewish-American groups, a consensus emerged that drew links between African Americans and Palestinians as people of color facing similar problems. Zeb Larson is a PhD Candidate in History at The Ohio State University. His research is about the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. To suggest a recent title or to contact him, please send an e-mail to zeb.larson@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the great animating foreign policy issues of the twenty-first century, one that provokes fierce divisions across the world. In the United States, the issue has become increasingly politicized in recent decades. While the conflict is not a strict binary issue, varying degrees and kinds of support for the Palestinians has become increasingly normalized among certain groups in the United States. One group that tends to profess sympathy with and support for Palestinians far more commonly than the average is African Americans. Links between the two groups are strong. For example, in 2016 Black Lives Matter released a statement critical of Israel; perhaps unsurprisingly, its use of the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” triggered a backlash among other progressive and Jewish-American groups. Michael Fischbach's Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color(Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the history of African American ties to Palestine. Fischbach begins with Malcolm X's interactions with Palestinians and his criticism of Zionism in the early 1960s. The writing of Frantz Fanon and others drew Black Power activists to Palestine, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's public statements on Israel. Fischbach uses the furor over that to illuminate the position of moderate groups such as the NAACP, supporters of Israel such as Bayard Rustin, and more radical groups such as the Black Panthers. Fischbach shows that despite pushback from Jewish-American groups, a consensus emerged that drew links between African Americans and Palestinians as people of color facing similar problems. Zeb Larson is a PhD Candidate in History at The Ohio State University. His research is about the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. To suggest a recent title or to contact him, please send an e-mail to zeb.larson@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
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