There are no words to express the grief we feel for every precious life that has been lost to the escalating violence we are witnessing in Palestine and Israel.
As a journal of organizing strategy and practice for organizers, The Forge has an important role to play in crisis moments such as this one: strengthening the work of organizers by helping them to make sense of the moment and learn lessons from it. As such, The Forge has recruited three special co-editors, Ramah Kudaimi, Sandra Tamari, and Morgan Bassichis to support in publishing content on Palestine/Israel that is relevant, nuanced, and that centers organizers and organizing.
Gaza concerns all of us because it is our tax dollars –– almost $4 billion annually –– that are funding this violence and destruction. Right now the Biden administration supports Israel without conditions, even sending more weapons without Congressional approval, undermining international efforts to stop the bombardment. Israel cannot continue its oppression of the Palestinian people without this U.S. financial and diplomatic backing.
For a lasting solution, we must address the root cause. Israel has oppressed Palestinians for decades, displacing families and denying them freedom. The answer is simple and clear: freedom. Palestinians must be free from Israel's oppression. The United States must halt the flow of weapons to ensure true safety and peace for all people. And we must do our organizing as part of a larger commitment to building a world free of authoritarianism, white supremacy, Zionism, and all other oppressive forces.
We’ve come together to help people understand what’s happening from an organizing perspective, and we will be sharing our perspectives while also sharing many points of view throughout the issue and we hope that you engage. This issue is important to many of us, and we intend to create space accessible to a variety of organizers for nuanced reflection and debate that pushes readers past fear and isolation, and towards true solidarity.
We will be publishing articles that will highlight histories of solidarity, lessons of direct actions organizing for this moment, and what this all means during an election year and threats of fascism worldwide. We’re starting by sharing a bit from each of us about how we are seeing the urgent crossroads facing our movements. We hope these pieces will support your own organizing to build the power we need to win. And to always remember we can only win when we are all free.
We also invite you to join us in Washington, DC (Lafayette Square) for the People’s State of the Union on Thursday, March 7 at 6pm. We will be coming together to make it clear to President Biden that the majority of the U.S. population demands a permanent ceasefire, no more money to Israel, and the funding of peoples’ and planet’s needs - not war and militarism. You can find more information at https://www.peopledemand.org/.
