ILPS Stands in Solidarity with Palestinian Activist Nerdeen Kiswani & Within Our Lifetime Against Zionist Attacks #WeStandWithNerdeen
As the International League of Peoples' Struggle US chapter, we firmly stand against and condemn the Zionist smear campaign launched by Michael Rapaport and his Zionist cronies against our Palestinian comrades from Within Our Lifetime, a member organization of ILPS. They have circulated a video of Within Our Lifetime's chairperson Nerdeen Kiswani speaking out against Israel and subjected this comrade to a flurry of online attacks, twisting her remarks as antisemitic and threatening to get her expelled from CUNY Law School, where she currently studies.
The video mentions neither Jewish people nor Judaism—only the Israeli settler-state. We reject the lie that the fight against Zionism is antisemitic and stand along side our comrades in declaring that Zionism itself is antisemitic. From the beginnings of the creation of the illegal state of Israel, Jews have stood with Palestine and against the occupation. Furthermore, painting the fight against Zionism as antisemitic invisibilizes the many Palestinian Jews which have lived in Palestine for centuries before Israel even existed and who have fought against the occupation of Palestine. In fact, we acknowledge that Palestinian resistance is justified because of illegal occupation.
The IDF is a fascist institution which has violated the human rights of Palestinians in order to continue to uphold Zionism and the illegal settler colony of Israel. The flag of Israel represents the millions of displaced Palestinians, waiting and fighting to return home. To uphold these symbols as symbols of freedom and truth is a lie and turns a blind eye to the genocide currently taking place. We also recognize that the roots of Zionism are in the global system that is imperialism—especially U.S. imperialism.
Because of this, ILPS US stands firmly with Palestinians in their fight for their liberation and the right to return. As an anti-imperialist alliance, we firmly oppose all forms of imperialism, including Zionism. We stand with Within Our Lifetime as they expose the truth about the Israeli settler occupation and bravely oppose it. We stand with their chairperson, Nerdeen Kiswani, as she faces vicious personal attacks from Zionists trying to expel her from a public law school that remains one of the most progressive in NYC. We need more peoples’ lawyers and law students like Nerdeen, ready to defend those seeking their liberation and basic human rights.
#WeStandWithNerdeen #FreePalestine #DefendPalestine #WithinOurLifetime