The new Jewish international: taking back the power of definition
Members of the International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine participate in the Jewish bloc of the national demonstration for Gaza in London, on 8 June 2024
Marilyn Garson writes in Mondoweiss on 11 June 2024:
Four years ago, a dozen or so Jewish justice groups began to meet monthly, online. We called ourselves the International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine (IJCJP). We learned about the others’ contexts, shared experiences, and ideas about resisting the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. While we each work integrally with Palestinian partners on Palestine issues, we had been reacting to the IHRA definition in isolation. We learned the hard way: the definition rolled over us all.
The IHRA definition is now the backdrop for the genocide which is being done in our names. Its power is pervasive. The IHRA definition has hemmed in the space of speech and protest, rendered statements of Palestinian identity and rights suspect, foreclosed on millenia of Jewish pluralism, and elevated political difference to the absolute wrong of racism. It diverts from urgent, lifesaving speech: permanent ceasefire now, sufficient humanitarian provision now, peace with justice forever. Every message must now be filtered (or rammed) through a language that places Zionist-Jewish discomfort before Palestinian survival.
Last weekend, the IJCJP held its first in-person congress in London. We know that our local work is both essential and insufficient, and we met to act strategically. How do the local and the national differ from the international? The member groups of the IJCJP reflect Jewish communities, and we have models of deep organization-building experience, methods that harness the wisdom of small communities, and fluid, decolonizing chat-based groups. We have begun to formulate a real, transnational organizational culture, led with a light touch among autonomous members. We are now 16 countries strong, from six continents, launching a new phase of our work as partners of Palestinians in pursuit of justice.
We met each other for the first time, marveling at it and yet feeling desperate. We who work closely with Palestinians and we who know Palestine now live through our messages. Our friends and colleagues are surviving minute by minute. Our imaginations falter at the world we are being shown in Gaza but we do not have the luxury of helplessness. Inspirationally, we began our gathering by feeling the power of being among 200,000 people marching through the streets of London – we, within the Jewish Bloc, within a sea of purpose. Palestine will be free.