Statement in Solidarity With Nerdeen Kiswani
“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the achievement by popular struggle of … the defeat of global systems of oppression that include colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.” (BAP Principle of Unity)`
The Black Alliance for Peace NYC/NJ remains in explicit solidarity with Nerdeen Kiswani, co-founder of Within Our Lifetime, in her right to express opposition to, and condemnation of, Zionism and the state of “Israel”. We condemn the threats to her life and the lives of her family that were recently revealed. The moment calls for mobilization, we demand transparency in the police investigation of Alexander Heifler, of the zionist organization JDL 613, and all associated with him. Terrorism does not instill fear in our movements; it puts the necessity of defeating imperialist/zionist war into greater focus.
We once again condemn the monstrous and cowardly actions of the racist Zionist entity, just as we condemn the attempts by its lackeys to single out and attack the members of our movement. Last week on Palestinian Land Day, the Zionist Entity instituted a new law that legalizes execution, yet only applies to the Palestinian people. This is among the more recent laws of apartheid governing the occupation. In anticipation of the vote for that legislation, the “Minister of National Security”, Itamar Ben-Gvir, among other parliamentary members, wore gold noose pins, gleefully displaying their genocidal pathology. This too is to be condemned. The grotesque similarities between this violence, its nod to the lynchings of the Jim Crow south, and the planned attack on Kiswani are impossible to ignore. The Black Alliance for Peace recognizes this white supremacist vigilantism and deputization as a continuation of the war against African/Black, colonized, working-class, and all oppressed peoples domestically and globally.
Furthermore, it is with the full support of the Western “international community” that adherents to zionism have been able to commit such crimes here and escape to the Zionist Entity unscathed. We remember Alex Odeh, a Palestinian activist who in 1985 was murdered in the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee offices in Santa Ana, California, when a pipe bomb exploded as he opened the door. Independent investigators have proven that Odeh’s perpetrators still live within the occupied territories without charge. Why sit idle while threats progress into action? We have no faith in the state to honestly depict its collusion with actors holding this intent. The origin of white supremacist vigilantism is always antagonism. The state apparatus has a sustained history of abandoning the Palestinian people at home and abroad.
We commend the exposing of the intent of the accused, to flee to the Zionist Entity–and urge all New Yorkers to put material support behind Nerdeen’s case against Betar. We call on journalists of integrity to publicly investigate the dealings that led to the capture of Alexander Heifler. Further, we speak directly to all Black working and oppressed peoples in calling to recognize our struggles as interconnected and to honor our revolutionary ancestors slain by imperialist/zionist violence. Black Alliance for Peace NYC/NJ will continue to stand in solidarity with Nerdeen Kiswani and Within Our Lifetime in the fight against Zionism.
Further, the Black Alliance for Peace stands in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians facing the threat of extinction in the racist, apartheid settler state of “Israel”. We recognize the right of Palestine to exist and the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation by any means they deem necessary. We call on African/Black people and movements to remember our long tradition of solidarity with Palestine. The moment does not call for standing down in the face of white supremacist violence as a tactic to silence our comrades.
No Compromise. No Retreat.
The Black Alliance for Peace NYC/NJ