My family and I participate with a group of constituents of Maryland’s District 4, just east of DC, focused on persuading our Congressional Representative, Glenn Ivey, to publicly support an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza. Our actions—letters, petitions, demonstrations, sit-ins—all convey this message to him, a task complicated by his being
Fascism is visible not only in the Zionist bombing of children and residents of Gaza - ultimately genocidal acts - but also in the Zionist led attacks on residents of the United States who dare to show opposition to the bombings and destruction. While Ceasefire Now is an important slogan to build solidarity it does not mean that there is an understanding of US imperialism. A mass movement to protect all of us who are opposing genocide whether here or in Palestine is necessary. We cannot limit ourselves to the Ceasefire Now movement but must address the intimidation and fear being spread as students, medical workers, NGOs like CASA, reporters are attacked for support of Palestinians. This is why I have raised the issue of the disciplining of teachers in Montgomery County and Anne Arundel county, censoring of programs at the universities and attacks on students who share information publicly about the conditions in Gaza. Israel's importance to the US empire has led to all of these points and needs to be emphasized in our work. The movement building in our community can handle all of these issues even as we pressure politicians to speak out.
Thanks, Juliana. This really set me thinking because I hadn't pondered the way that slogans can reflect so deeply our core ideas and goals, even though that is something that I have often "felt." No single slogan is enough for a movement, but, IMO, sometimes one slogan is needed to begin to organize diverse groups into a united demand for something vital to that movement. I was listening to a podcast with Rashid Khalidi yesterday when he segued into talking about the contested slogan, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." Khalidi pointed out that the emphasis in that slogan is on the word "free" because today, all Palestinians, no matter where they live in Israel/Palestine, are not free. This slogan declares that, whatever future political and national arrangements are formed in that region, Palestinians should and will be free in those arrangements. The slogan, Khalidi said, is not saying that non-Palestinians and Jews won't be free. It's declaring that, in any future arrangement, Palestinians should, and will be, free. As you said, slogans are criticized, often in bad faith, for over-simplifying. Khalidi's point about this slogan really clarified it for me. No wonder slogans like this arouse so much vitriol. They threaten current, unjust arrangements.
This is an interesting and educational post and timely for me as I'm planning a post on the pitfalls of political slogans myself for next month, to coincide with International Women's Day. I appreciate your points about the value of slogans, the work they do. It's made me think in particular about action slogans like "Ceasefire Now" in contrast to statement slogans. That's super helpful. Thanks!
Fascism is visible not only in the Zionist bombing of children and residents of Gaza - ultimately genocidal acts - but also in the Zionist led attacks on residents of the United States who dare to show opposition to the bombings and destruction. While Ceasefire Now is an important slogan to build solidarity it does not mean that there is an understanding of US imperialism. A mass movement to protect all of us who are opposing genocide whether here or in Palestine is necessary. We cannot limit ourselves to the Ceasefire Now movement but must address the intimidation and fear being spread as students, medical workers, NGOs like CASA, reporters are attacked for support of Palestinians. This is why I have raised the issue of the disciplining of teachers in Montgomery County and Anne Arundel county, censoring of programs at the universities and attacks on students who share information publicly about the conditions in Gaza. Israel's importance to the US empire has led to all of these points and needs to be emphasized in our work. The movement building in our community can handle all of these issues even as we pressure politicians to speak out.
Thanks, Juliana. This really set me thinking because I hadn't pondered the way that slogans can reflect so deeply our core ideas and goals, even though that is something that I have often "felt." No single slogan is enough for a movement, but, IMO, sometimes one slogan is needed to begin to organize diverse groups into a united demand for something vital to that movement. I was listening to a podcast with Rashid Khalidi yesterday when he segued into talking about the contested slogan, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." Khalidi pointed out that the emphasis in that slogan is on the word "free" because today, all Palestinians, no matter where they live in Israel/Palestine, are not free. This slogan declares that, whatever future political and national arrangements are formed in that region, Palestinians should and will be free in those arrangements. The slogan, Khalidi said, is not saying that non-Palestinians and Jews won't be free. It's declaring that, in any future arrangement, Palestinians should, and will be, free. As you said, slogans are criticized, often in bad faith, for over-simplifying. Khalidi's point about this slogan really clarified it for me. No wonder slogans like this arouse so much vitriol. They threaten current, unjust arrangements.
This is an interesting and educational post and timely for me as I'm planning a post on the pitfalls of political slogans myself for next month, to coincide with International Women's Day. I appreciate your points about the value of slogans, the work they do. It's made me think in particular about action slogans like "Ceasefire Now" in contrast to statement slogans. That's super helpful. Thanks!