Ep. 111 - Palestinian Liberation: Anti-Zionism & Jewish Solidarity ft. Rabbi Brant Rosen & Lesley Williams

Bourbon 'n BrownTown

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.

GUESTS
Brant 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.

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Writings by Lesley:

• To be Black and Jewish after Charlottesville
• The Anti-Defamation League Kills the Black/Jewish Alliance
• We Cannot Fight Anti-Semitism and Anti-Black Racism in Isolation
• White Jews: deal with your privilege and call out Jewish support for white supremacy
• Message 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 country
• This is NOT What America Looks Like

Writings by Brant:

• Zionism and the Quest for Peace in the Holy Land
• On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice
• Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation.
• Op-ed in support of Chicago's Ceasefire Resolution
• Amid Israel’s Brutality in Gaza, It’s Time to Commit to Anti-Zionism
• Protesting Genocide at the DNC in Chicago: Beyond “One Issue”

Mentioned Topics & More Info:

• Ep. 102 - Palestinian Liberation: In This Moment ft. Muhammad Sankari
• Hoda Katebi on holding your institutions accountable
• Drop The ADL Campaign
• International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine - Webinar featuring Lesley and Brant
• Palestine Book Awards
• Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color
• The Message by Ta -Nehesi Coates
• AIPAC be AIPAC’n (Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar)
• Gazans say "thank you" to American university encampments
• Ceasefire Resolution in Evanston
• Journalists Ghassan Kanafani and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada
• We Charge Genocide: 1951 and 2014

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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.

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