Defiance and Empowerment: Supporting the Palestinian Cause

You can listen to the full episode "Against Condemning Hamas" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

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“The struggle for Palestinian liberation today is led by the Islamic Resistance Movement — Hamas. Hamas is supported by the entirety of the organized Palestinian left. One might have expected that the left in the imperial core would follow the leadership of the Palestinian left in supporting Hamas. More often than not, though, left intellectuals echo the condemnations that imperialist states make the condition for speaking about Palestine. In so doing, they take a side against the Palestinian revolution, giving a progressive face to the repression of the Palestinian political project, and betraying the anti-imperialist aspirations of a previous generation.”

These are words written by Jodi Dean, a past guest on the show and a longtime activist, organizer, professor, and writer. In this Patreon episode, Robert reads an incredibly important piece written by Jodi about the Palestinian resistance movement which, after its publication, actually resulted in Jodi being punished by her university and relieved of teaching responsibilities.

In light of the growing attacks on academic freedom, as well as the literal attacks being waged by militarized police forces against professors and students demonstrating on campuses across the country, we thought this was a crucial time to uplift Jodi’s words and share this important piece. As we did last time, Robert will come in from time to time to share his own analyses and reflections throughout the reading.

Further resources:

• Palestine speaks for everyone
• Petition: Revoke Professor Jodi Dean's suspension from teaching at Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Upstream: Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron

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