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

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.


Full Transcriptions Here!


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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