NEW JERSEY SOLIDARITY -- ACTIVISTS FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (NJS)

• Pro-Palestinian militant organization that calls for the destruction of Israel

Openly calling for the destruction of Israel, New Jersey Solidarity--Activists for the Liberation of Palestine (NJS) declares that its mission is to “support ... the Palestinian struggle for justice, national liberation, human rights and self-determination”; to “stan[d] firmly against racism and all forms of oppression"; and to work "in solidarity with liberation struggles of people around the world against imperialism and colonialism."

NJS demands “an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories, the recognition of the full, non-negotiable human right of return for all Palestinian refugees, and full political, social and economic equality under law for all people in historic Palestine." It condemns “the existence of the apartheid colonial settler state of Israel, as it is based on the racist ideology of Zionism and is an expression of colonialism and imperialism.” And NJS “stand[s] for the total liberation of all of historic Palestine" -- meaning the area comprising the entirety of present-day Israel, plus the West Bank and Gaza. NJS embraces the slogan, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!" -- a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, precisely the territory that currently constitutes the state of Israel.

NJS seeks to help achieve the foregoing objectives by sponsoring educational events and activities; delegations and report-backs; film showings; cultural events; musical and artistic events; rallies and demonstrations; direct actions and displays; outreach; coalition building; anti-Israel divestment campaigns; and study groups.

In the fall of 2003, NJS hosted a conference at Rutgers University promoting divestment from Israel and the "celebrat[ion] [of] Palestinian resistance." Among the organizations to endorse this conference were: International ANSWER, Al-Awda, the Al-Bireh Palestine Society, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Amnesty International, the Free Palestine Alliance, the International Action Center, the International Socialist Organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine, Jews for a Free Palestine, the Korea Truth Commission, La Raza Unida Party, the Middle East Children's Alliance, the Muslim Student Association, the National Lawyers Guild, the Nicaragua Network, the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund, the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for Justice in Palestine, SUSTAIN, Women Against War, and the Workers World Party.
NJS reports that it has a particularly close working relationship with Ramsey Clark's International Action Center, International ANSWER, and the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund. Al-Awda lists NJS as one of its "Coalition Committee Members."

Lifelong communist Charlotte Kates, spokeswoman for NJS, wrote an op-ed which she titled "Israel Has No 'Right to Exist'" for the Rutgers University newspaper, the Daily Targum, whose editors retitled the piece "Palestine Roots in Land Proven Through History" prior to publication. Kates characterizes Israel as "an oppressive, racist state."

NJS is an uncompromising supporter of "the right of return for Palestinian refugees to their homes and their homeland." Palestinian authorities place the number of Arabs who ought to be granted a "right of return" to Israel at 5 million. This is more than ten times the number of Arabs who actually left the Jewish portions of the British Mandate in 1948, most of whom are now deceased. The incorporation of five million Arabs into Israel would render Jews a permanent minority in their own country, and would thus spell the end of Israel. Understanding this, NJS supports this fundamental demand.

NJS views Israel's main ally, the United States, as a nation whose foreign policies are founded on oppression, injustice, and imperialism. Thus the organization seeks to “expos[e] and highligh[t] the role of the United States in furthering injustice and oppression in Palestine," and calls "for an immediate end to all U.S. aid--political, military and economic--to Israel."

In September 2006 NJS sponsored a Brooklyn, New York rally called “Stop the War Against the Arab People,” which demanded the following: “Immediate & Unconditional Right to return for all Palestinian refugees”; “End the occupation of historic Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and everywhere”; “End all U.S. aid to apartheid Israel”; “Release all political prisoners”; and “Support the people's right to resist.”