Open Letter to Netroots Nation from Attendees: Palestine Must Be Part of Our Progressive Movement
To sign onto this letter, go to: https://bit.ly/NetrootsPalestine
Dear Netroots Nation,
We agree with what Rep. Pramila Jayapal clarified on stage: Israel is a racist state. It’s past time for progressives to live up to our values and firmly declare our commitment to the Palestinian freedom struggle. We are Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Palestinian, Arab, Jewish, Muslim, and allies who attended Netroots Nation 2023 in Chicago, on the ancestral homeland of the Council of the Three Fires. We participated in this conference because we are fighting for the future of this nation and our communities — fighting for reproductive justice, mobilizing for workers’ rights, combating racism, defending queer and trans rights, advocating for disability justice, supporting the unhoused, and uplifting the most marginalized.
We fully support the Palestinian attendees and allies who interrupted Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)’s remarks on the last day of the conference, Saturday, July 15th. Chicago is home to the nation’s largest Palestinian population. This action was led by the attendees of Netroots in solidarity with a local effort to reach Schakowsky, spearheaded by the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). Since 2020, USPCN has attempted to engage Schakowsky on the issue of Palestinian rights. Constituents organized a number of pickets, protests, call-in days, and banner-drops targeting Schakowsky, plus one sit-in at her in Chicago office, asking her to support H.R.3103, a bill that ensures no funding given to Israel is used to torture and imprison Palestinian children, and destroy and steal Palestinian homes and land. Schakowsky’s refusal to support H.R.3103 contradicts what she claimed on the stage — that she’s a “powerful ally” to the Palestinians.
We are disappointed that Netroots invited speakers such as Schakowsky and Rep. Maxwell Frost (FL-10) to be keynote panelists while they have ignored the demands of their constituents, neglecting to sign onto H.R. 3103 as the bare minimum to stop our tax dollars from funding Israel’s violence against Palestinian families.
We are outraged at the way Netroots moderators attempted to silence Palestinian rights advocates and delegitimize our concerns. Especially alarming was the divisive response by Markos Moulitsas, who very clearly attempted to split the room to steamroll, silence, and eventually force out Palestinian rights activists.
The community backlash to Moulitsas’ response was swift, and we joined the mass audience walk-out in solidarity with the action.
While we understand that healthy confrontation can indeed be difficult — especially from those in our communities who we love and lean on — Moulitsas’ actions set the stage for what Palestinian rights supporters saw next outside the ballroom doors. This included a woman of color who stood in solidarity with the action and was subsequently physically pushed and verbally harassed by a white male attendee at the doors, who then returned to the ballroom, a space that seemingly reflected his views and was complicit in this act of violence. This is unacceptable and it must be acknowledged that the words of those with power have real-life consequences, which was acutely visible in that moment. This demonstrated once again how Black and Brown people continue to put their bodies and lives on the line for all of us. We should not have to be subjected to violence of any kind in a community that is supposed to be fighting for justice and the right to protest. Many of us are continuously silenced in our daily lives because of the systemic oppression and violence inflicted on BIPOC communities. Needless to say, we deserve a space that espouses justice for everyone and means it. One of these spaces should have been Netroots.
We will continue to disrupt, protest, and speak out until the human rights of Palestinians and their liberation are universally recognized. Disruptions are a vital nonviolent tactic that have been used by social justice movements throughout history. We make good trouble, as Congressman John Lewis put it, to challenge power structures and make progress toward a vision of a democracy where everyone, regardless of the color of their skin or where they are born, can live with dignity and respect. We must ask ourselves how the inconvenience of an event disruption compares to the abuses of Palestinians in the West Bank who are being killed and arrested en masse right now and the ongoing Israeli siege and regular bombings of Palestinians in Gaza.
Palestine is an issue that we are all deeply implicated in as Americans, as our government sends $3.8 billion of our tax dollars to Israel every year in military funding. Not only are our tax dollars funding human rights abuses in Palestine, but US law enforcement officials, including ICE agents and current and past police chiefs from Chicago, Atlanta, LA, Boston and elsewhere, have received training and exchanged tactics with Israeli police, military and intelligence. These trainings include exchanging tactics on surveillance, racial profiling, and use of deadly force that serve to further harm Black and Brown communities both here and in Palestine.
Our nation continues to be plagued by domestic issues — a broken health care system, inequity in education, housing injustice, childcare deserts, the climate crisis, racial injustice, ballooning student loan debt — yet our government officials still prioritize investing billions in Israeli apartheid.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of Israel’s colonization and military occupation of Palestinian land. It’s also been one of the deadliest years for Palestinians in history—and it’s only July. Israel continues to forcibly remove Palestinians from their homes and expand illegal settlements while Palestinian land and lives are stolen. We’re dealing with life and death for Palestinians who are living under apartheid right now, and as progressives we can’t claim to stand for justice while being silent on Palestine.
Netroots’ decision this year to invite Rep. Schakowsky and Rep. Frost to the main stage is emblematic of the phrase “progressive except Palestine,” the old status quo we’ve seen for decades among our political representatives who are cushioned with right-wing, pro-Israel lobbyist money. We applaud Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Jayapal who spoke out at Netroots against Israel’s occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people. We urge others to take heed.
We hope Netroots will continue to support those who are progressive, including on Palestine. That starts with Netroots Nation leadership demanding every elected official who spoke and attended Netroots this year to skip Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to Congress this week. We also ask that Netroots commit to not providing a platform for anti-Palestinian speakers. Instead, we ask that Netroots leadership commit to centering Palestinian voices and working with Palestinian activists and organizations to intentionally include the Palestinian struggle as part of the wider progressive movement at NN24 and beyond.
“...for those everywhere struggling against racism and for freedom, the Palestinian people continue to serve as an inspiration because they have endured and remained steadfast for so long, refusing to give up and accept permanent subjugation and injustice.”
– Angela Davis
The fight for Black, Indigenous, and Palestinian liberation are inextricably linked. To be truly progressive in our movements, we must embrace intersectional and international solidarity. We won’t stay silent about any supporter of racist states being platformed at Netroots Nation. Free, free Palestine!
In solidarity,
The Undersigned
Add your name to this letter https://bit.ly/NetrootsPalestine
